Diana, Princess of the Underworld
by Maven Alazais
Summary: Based on the JL/JLU Cartoons. Diana answers a distress call from Themyscira, only to be trapped into a situation she has no way to escape. Being forced to watch over the dead, she reinvents herself, as her teammates try to find a way to get her back. WonderBat. No copyright infringement intended.
1. 1 - Family Business

***Hello, loyal Wonderbat fans and newcomers. This is Maven Alazais on a new fanfic, with a concept I'm quite frightened to handle but it might get interesting to see. I haven't figured out the end or the solution yet, so I'll be working it out with you as it goes. I hope you enjoy it, and please, like always, leave a review by the end, tell me how you found it.**

 **P.S. Sorry for any typos I didn't notice.***

 **DIANA OF THE UNDERWORLD**

 **CHAPTER 1-FAMILY BUSINESS**

The day at the Watchtower had been quite uneventful. Other than a few ordinary instances around the globe, no serious threats had been presented to the Leaguers. Diana found herself being seated between her two closest friends at the Dining Hall for yet another lunch that week.

"And that's the story, really. I had been following the lead but boy, was I wrong that this really was something. It was nothing. I'm really going to be in a tight spot by the weekend if I don't present Boss something." Clark whined, playing with a meatball in his plate.

Bruce let out a small, bored sigh. "You know you can come work for one of Wayne Enterprise's companies, right?"

"I don't want to. I want to make an honest living. Plus, I like my job."

"Suit yourself." The multimillionaire vigilante replied, turning his look somewhere else.

"I understand where you're coming from, Superman." Diana said. "We really should be able to stand on our two feet. Though Batman is quite generous and his heart is at the right place,"-Bruce tensed up just a bit with that phrase-"it doesn't compare with being able to do what you choose to do with your life on your own."

"Agreed. Unless there's a family business in the way, right, Batman?" Clark asked playfully.

Bruce shrugged. "There is a different sense of obligation to follow up in a family's footsteps, especially when those footsteps have created something huge."

"I don't think it has to do with the size of the thing created." Diana intervened. "Even if the parents own a small shop in the middle of nowhere and with no prospects for it being a considerably profitable business in any way, they would still want their children to inherit it and work in it when they leave. Parents wish to see their children become like them, because they think that's the right thing to do to be happy, since they believe their life is happy and safe. At least, most of the times."

"Interesting thoughts, Diana." Clark commented, chewing on a small broccoli piece.

"Well, I was raised to be a Queen like Hippolyta, so I know a thing or two on following the family business, really."

"But you didn't, eventually." Bruce said.

"Well, I chose to follow my own path. I am content with it, though I wouldn't say the same thing about my mother. Poor soul, she still hopes I'll come back and rule with her one day."

"You're an exile."

"There is a small thing called love and forgiveness, Batman." She looked at him meaningfully. "My fellow Amazons would understand why I did what I did. And they would all agree, at least I hope, to take me back if I ever made the decision to return for good."

"God help the Earth should that day come!" Clark commented. "We need you in 'Man's World'."

"That's why I came."

"And that's why you'll stay too." Clark gave her a big, hearty smile, which she returned. "So, I'm off. You two got the night shift today, and I need to find something to write about. See you tomorrow."

Bruce simply nodded and Diana bid their friend adieu as he left the Hall. "Any suggestions for tonight?" Diana asked but Bruce shook his head negatively.

"I will trust your taste."

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

 _Several hours later…_

Diana had always found night shifts extremely dull. Most of the times she had nothing to do and she was forced to stay awake as well. She understood the need of night shifts very well, and complied with them, but that didn't mean she had to like them in any way.

Bruce hardly ever got night shifts. He had made it clear around the League that his Gotham duties made it very hard for him to be able to spend a whole night around the Watchtower when he could be of more use back in his hometown. But as the years went by and he became more and more involved with the League, and as his Gotham squad expanded, he felt more at ease with being appointed at a night shift or two. Especially when he was paired with the Amazon Princess.

Their dynamic was a weird one, he had noticed. They worked together almost too well. He recalled Clark saying at one point that they 'went together like salt and pepper'. He knew that the Kryptonian meant more than just teammates, but he didn't wish to comment on that one. It would be better to leave it as it is. Diana was an amazing person and one of the closest people to him and for her sake, their relationship didn't need to become any more complicated.

Diana really enjoyed herself when Bruce was around. She liked to tease him, flirt with him, talk to him; she liked everything with him, really. And he made the night shifts a lot less boring, so whenever she saw his name on the night shift schedule, she was quick in taking that night too. And soon, they had their own kind of almost-weekly rendez-vous.

As the nights went by really slow, Diana took it on herself to find something to keep them awake and busy. Sure, strong coffee could handle the 'awake' part, but the busy one, not quite so. It wasn't hard to see, though, that a good film could fill the missing part. Since she wasn't accustomed with Western civilization before she left Themyscira, the concept of films was something very new to her when she arrived. She had so many films to see! And so, night shifts were the perfect opportunity. She always got some popcorn –humans had the strange habit of eating this particular snack when watching a movie- and found a nice film to keep them occupied.

"Anything on the radar?" She asked, entering the Monitoring Hall.

"Nothing of importance. Quiet as usual."

"Great. I got us a Disney classic today!" Diana said cheerfully, moving towards the projecting machine. Bruce raised an eyebrow. He was used to having a different film every time she was with him at the night shift, but this might have been the first time she chose something like that. "Mary Poppins! Julie Andrews stars, that actress I told you I liked in-"

"Yes, I remember."

"It is based on a series of books, I read."

"By P. L. Travers."

"Oh, you know that, then."

"Used to read them when I was child. They were-" He cut his sentence there.

"They were what?" Diana insisted.

"Some of my mother's favorites." Bruce replied faster, but with a softer voice.

"Mm, I see…"Diana said, nodding and smiling ever-so-lightly. She liked those rare moments when Bruce let his guard down for just a second and admitted or shared something a bit more personal. And the more night shifts they had, she had noticed, the more moments like this she had gotten. "Then Mrs. Martha must have had a great taste. This movie will be brilliant."

Bruce, not surprisingly, didn't bother to reply and got his usual seat, waiting for the projection to start. Diana pushed the right buttons and a holographic screen emerged in front of their seat. She joined Bruce and grabbed a handful of popcorn.

Some minutes later, Bruce observed Diana from the corner of his eye, as she watched Mary Poppins land with her magical umbrella and her eyes shone bright and wide like a small kid on Christmas day. He might have smiled a bit, wondering how it would be to get so easily excited with things.

The following hours went by pleasantly, with Bruce listening to Diana humming along with the songs. She was quick in catching up to the rhythm and he might have also tapped his foot lightly, but there was no need to point that out.

Just when the magical nanny was about to leave the Banks, a small message appeared on the screen, reading 'Urgent for Wonder Woman'. Diana jumped up from her seat and moved to the consoles. Bruce followed her wondering what was going on, but before he could reach the panel, Diana turned around. "It's from Themyscira. I'll be going, then. Call on Flash, he was the standby for tonight."

"I'm coming along." Bruce said without a second thought but Diana shook her head negatively.

"It's my homeland, and the message was for me personally. Should the need arise, I will ring you up."

Bruce for some reason he couldn't really pinpoint, agreed without arguing, even though he felt it was wrong. Diana gave him a small, contained smile, touched his cheek with her hand and stormed off.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Diana felt her hands sweaty on the steering wheel. She realized she had been clenching them for all the time she was flying back to her island. Something about this notice had really disturbed her. There was no information in the message. Just a 'distress call' from Themyscira. It would normally mean trouble and she would need to have other Leaguers along too, but this was specifically sent to her. Only to her.

Maybe someone was dying and there wasn't another way of contacting her. Maybe something needed to be resolved and she was the only to do it. Maybe…

She shook her head trying to dismiss the intrusive thoughts. Whatever it was, she was just about to find out, as she flew through the protective barrier of the island and saw the outline of Themyscira. It was dark, as the morning hadn't arrived yet, and a few fires shone yellow and orange here and there. She landed her jet in a clearing among some trees and got out. She took a deep breath, inhaling the cold and crispy air, and flew to the capital of the island, where she would likely find her mother and the rest of the Amazons.

She knew something was seriously off when she found no Amazon anywhere to be seen. If someone was dying, let's say, they wouldn't all be concentrated at her room, for starters. Something else must have been. And, of course, it would be with Hades. How could she even think that it couldn't have been it? She ran inside the Palace and straight to the Chamber which led to the Underworld Door, that her mother was now obligated to guard.

As she had feared, Hades was out once again. No one was attacking him, however. All of the Amazons, fully armed, were just pointing their weapons at him, with Hippolyta standing by his side, held by his firm grip.

"Ah, you've finally come, Diana." Hades said, giving her a sly grin. "I've longed to see you."

"What is going on?" Diana asked, ignoring his welcome message and approaching. "How are you out?!"

Hades shrugged. "Don't forget that I'm an Olympian too, dear. Doomed to stay in his hell-hole, but a god nonetheless. And my _beloved_ brother Zeus needed a favour. So, naturally, I granted him his favour with a small reward."

"Zeus would never let you out! Never!" Diana retorted, readying her fists.

Hades took a step forward, his long black hair flowing around at the whims of his aura. The Amazons readied their weapons again but Hades looked at them with pity. They all knew they were powerless against him. "But he did. On the terms that I wouldn't kill or injure anyone, and that my _job_ wouldn't be jeopardised. And you don't see me doing any of that, do you?"

"Diana, we need to send him back!" Hippolyta urged. "The Underworld can't stay unguarded!"

"Of course it can't, Hippolyta, my love." Hades said, with a faked charm decorating his voice. "And that is why I can't, supposedly, stay out for too long. I just came to say hi." He smiled devilishly.

"Go back in Hell!" Diana shouted, launching herself onto him, but Hades teleported on the other side of the room with the Amazon Queen with him.

"That isn't fair, child! I am not attacking any of you, am I?"

"You're holding our Queen hostage!"

"Oh, this?" He looked at Hippolyta as if he had forgotten about her and gave her a push away from him. "I just needed her to contact you. Nothing more."

"What do you want, Demon?!" Diana asked, grabbing her lasso.

"I need you to help me out a bit."

"What makes you think I will ever help _you?"_

"Why, it's your duty in the family line."

"What?"

"Stop it, Hades!" Hippolyta shouted, running to her daughter. "Diana, don't listen to a word he says!"

"But it's the truth, my old love."

"We don't want your truth, Hades. And trying to convince me to do anything based on lies is useless." Diana said, crossing her hands over her chest. This all was exhausting her.

"But they're not lies. Before I was condemned into never exiting the Underworld again, I did help Hippolyta sculpt you..."

Diana smirked. "So you played with the sand I was created with. How on Earth does that make you my father in any way? Really?"

"Are you this naïve, Princess? We're Olympians. Athena popped out of my brother's head fully armed. Aphrodite emerged out of some semen-foam. As you can see, natural birth is nothing of importance around here."

Diana rolled her eyes. Yes, she was familiar with that theory. She tried denying it in her head, but something about Hades' confidence on the matter made it extremely hard for her not to believe him. But, what if she was indeed related to him, she thought. It meant nothing.

Hades got a bit closer. "Yes… The black hair, the strength, the height, the charm. Where do you think you got all that from?"

"Even if it is true, I don't care. The only parent I know is Hippolyta. I want nothing to do with you. Get back."

"And I would want nothing to do with you too, child, if I didn't need you to take care of the…family business." Diana arched an eyebrow. "Confused, are you? Let me explain." He took a look at the Amazons present, and at the ashamed Hippolyta, like a showman in front of his audience and grinned. "Olympus has always been about family. Find one god or goddess not related to another in some way. Family above everything. The thing is, though… The Olympians stopped bothering with this world a long time ago. But me. Oh, poor me, I am _condemned_ to always stay in the Underworld. Yes, people can go without asking the gods favours or making sacrifices. But they can't not die. And someone has to keep their dead remnants tucked away. Being the least friendly god and with the unfortunate history I have with my brothers, I was the one left behind. But not anymore."

"Do you think we will pity you with this pathetic story?"

"I don't need you to pity me. I need you to step into your father's shoes. Your time has come, to help out. The Underworld, my dear, much like everything the Olympians built, is supposed to work on family grounds. There always needs to be someone to guard the dead, and the throne only recognizes, well, you know it, family. And what better suited person to do that than my own daughter? It's the only way the Underworld can stay intact, I'm afraid."

Diana looked at him in horror. Only a twisted mind like his could come up with a scheme like this. There was no way she could do that. "Go back! I don't need to hear a word anymore! You are full of lies and deception! Go back where you belong!"

Hades gave her another devilish grin. "The hard way then."

With a small shake of his hand, the gate of the Underworld opened and out came a strong gush of wind and energy from the dead and whatever was down there. Diana saw him teleporting and she guessed right; he landed right behind her. She span around and tried to land a punch on his chin. Hades easily defended himself and summoning his power over the dead, captured the Amazons in a whirlwind, throwing them on the walls. Diana tried to kick him again, but his forearm caught her shin before it could land on his ribs. He was smart, she noticed. Not breaching Zeus' terms, he was only defending and not injuring.

"You can't escape this. Good luck!" Hades said, giving her a strong push. Diana found herself caught on the whirlwind of the gate, with nowhere to grab and no power to fly against it. Before she could even realize it, she was dragged inside and the gates closed after her, as the image of Hades waving his hand at her vanished and the whirlwind stopped. She was no longer being dragged.

"My job here is done." Hades mumbled to himself, rubbing his hands. Dodging a predictable attack from Hippolyta, the last Amazon stranding, he teleported away.

Hippolyta, whiter than ever and in a pitiable condition, ran back to the throne room. She had to issue another distress call.

 ***This is it, then! Our story begins. I hope you liked this idea and I also hope you find the rest of the fic interesting. Please tell me how you found it! Thank you!***


	2. 2 - Touring the Underworld

***Thank you all so much for your reviews/favs/follows! They mean so much!**

 **I hope I won't let you down with this story. As I've told you before, I'm only working it out as it goes as well. Also, I won't be updating as fast as I did with my previous fics, as I'm going through a very demanding semester and it leaves me with little free time. I will try though!**

 **Happy reading!**

 **PS. For the reader that said I shouldn't confine them to the storylines of the cartoons only, I'm sorry, but I'm not too familiar with their development in either games or comics. At least not in storylines that I liked or would want to integrate in anyway. So, for the integrity of the thing, I will keep them inside the 'limits' of JL/JLU cartoons. Thanks for taking the time to review!***

 **CHAPTER TWO – TOURING THE UNDERWORLD**

Not even a quarter must have passed since Diana left the Tower, when Bruce almost jumped off his seat at the sound of the zeta tube and Flash's arriving.

"Hey, Bats!" He greeted. "Heard you needed me up here. What's up?"

"Wonder Woman left for something urgent, I need to follow up. You're on now."

"What, alone!?"

"Wake someone up, I need to leave." Bruce said in a voice that betrayed he wouldn't take no for an answer.

"Oh-kay, brother, don't get so worked up!" Flash said, putting his hands up. "I'll call up on Green Lantern. Give us a ring if you need anything…" He added, as Bruce was already going through the door.

Bruce ran to the Batmobile and jumped on the pilot's seat, turning some switches on. The engines roared and he took off, as he impatiently banged his fist on the side of the steering wheel. He should have gone with her right away, he thought. It was a distress call. If he recalled correctly, the protocol stated that both Leaguers on duty were to show up at the origin place of the call. Why was he so easily convinced that she should go alone? It shouldn't matter that it was her homeland, or that it was addressed to her. A distress call is a distress call.

He pushed the plane as fast as it could go. He knew something was off the moment she stepped out of the Monitoring Hall and he had learnt to trust his gut, all these years. Why hadn't he followed it sooner, he wondered. His jet was fast, but maybe Diana's was faster. He could locate hers on his radar, but it was a good distance ahead. And if he was right, Diana wouldn't bother to check on her radars too much. Her head would be focused on what was coming ahead; her island, her people, her duties.

He went through Themyscira's invisible barrier and landed somewhere close to Diana's jet. The island wasn't big and it was easy to remember the way to go to the capital from the last time he was there.

His suspicions were confirmed when he saw that no Amazon came to meet him at the square, and no Amazon was in sight as well. Fearing for the worst, he ran up the stairs of the Palace, hoping he could find some answers. As he entered the dimly lit entrance chamber, he saw Hippolyta in a state of contained panic, coming from the chambers below. As soon as she saw him, she almost ran to him, wide-eyed, and grabbed him from the shoulders.

"I don't know why you're here, and as much embarrassed as I am to ask, please, just help my daughter!"

"What happened?" He urged, as Hippolyta started dragging him towards where she was originally coming from.

"Hades, he… He trapped her!" She almost shouted as they reached the innermost part of the Palace, where the Amazons guarded the Gate to the Underworld. The Queen pointed at the closed Gate.

Bruce noticed many Amazons lying senseless on the floor, some getting up, some acting defensive upon seeing him. Hippolyta, however, didn't regard them the least bit and they, realizing they were in some sort of tight spot by the way their Queen acted, waited to see what was going to be done now.

Bruce's eyes widened when he started putting the pieces together. Diana was nowhere to be found. The Gate was closed, Hippolyta was pointing it at it, saying that Hades trapped her. So… "Wonder Woman is in the Underworld?!" Hippolyta nodded positively, her eyes getting watery. "How? Did Hades kill her?!"

"He got out, got a favour from Zeus, under the condition that he wouldn't injure or kill anyone. He didn't needed a key to open the door, he didn't need anything! Zeus was never a god of brains or wisdom, but what he unleashed is unfathomable! Hades…used me to contact her. She came. And he trapped her inside."

"How can she be _trapped_ inside the Underworld? That can only mean that… she's now…dead."

"…No." Hippolyta said, looking away for a minute. "There's a reason he could trap her inside and still leave. Hades is…her father." Bruce almost took a step back on the shock of the reveal of this information. He well understood that Diana was the 'product' of something magical and divine, but that Hades had a part in it all was unimaginable. "The Underworld always needs a Guardian. He had all the time in the world to come up with this plan ever since he realized that Diana was, unfortunately, his daughter too."

"He got her inside so that…she can do his work."

"Yes… As his.. 'family', she will be recognized as the rightful heir by the _creatures_ down there. She is doomed to stay in his position, since this Gate cannot open. It's created to seal the Guardian. Now, she is the only Guardian left inside, so-"

"The Gate reads it like it is. There is a Guardian inside, so it locks."

She nodded positively. "We need to get her out!"

Bruce let go of her and moved towards the Gate. He had gathered a few information on it from the last time they were around but didn't manage to delve into it any deeper. He thought it quite irrelevant, since it hadn't caused any more trouble ever since and he knew that Hades was weak again magic and mystic forces. The League could handle him. But this was a whole new issue. He couldn't have predicted that Hades would come up with something so mischievous, but he couldn't help but feel somewhat guilty for not being prepared, for starters, and for not having come sooner as well.

From what he could see, it was crafted to be very solid and thick, although that wasn't its strength. He could sense the magic going through it. It was enchanted, obviously. The designs on the door didn't have any secret meanings, as there were no inscriptions or any other design that could signify anything. The column which served as a keyhole had been destroyed too. So there was no key, and no keyhole to use. He pressed his ear on the cold stone, as if was actually expecting to hear any sounds. Reasonably enough, he heard nothing.

It was clear that he couldn't resolve this alone. He was too late and too powerless against what this was. "I will need to get some help." He announced to Hippolyta, who had in the meantime approached.

"Anything. And anyone, as long as she's taken out."

Bruce nodded and headed out. They had no time to lose.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

As soon as the doors were closed and the whirlwind stopped, Diana felt as if she was suffocating. Her eye sight was blurry and her limbs were weak. She fell to her knees and her palms, breathing hard and fast. She felt the sweat drops running down from her temples, and her whole body burning up. The place around her was black and unfriendly, but for some reason, it wasn't dark, or cold, or hot.

She didn't know for how long she stayed there. She found it hard to understand the concept of time in her head. Her breathing stabilized after a bit, and her eyesight became better, but she was still burning up, unable to believe what had actually happened. That she was indeed trapped inside the Underworld, to actually…rule?

Letting a loud cry out, she jumped up and started punching the door. It had to bulge at some point. It was a door. She had to go out. There was no way she was going to stay there.

She kept punching and kicking, and punching again, for what seemed like hours. Maybe it was minutes. Or was it seconds? Diana couldn't tell. The place was really messing with her head. She was soaked in sweat and bruised. Her knuckles were bleeding. The door was intact.

"Please refrain from doing that." She heard an odd voice say in Greek behind her. She turned around to face an entity unlike anything she had seen before.

It was something anthropomorphic. It was tall and slim, had two arms and she guessed two legs, as the bottom of its body was hidden by the long garment it was wearing. Its head had a weird shape, which was somewhat thinner than a human's, and pointier at the top. The eye sockets were buried underneath a prominent brow line, that connected with its nose, as it ran down its face long and crooked. It had no actual brows or any kind of hair at all. Its eyes were total black and shiny, its jaw pointy and its mouth seemed to be just a long, downturned line.

She clenched her fists by her side, glaring at the creature. "Who are you?"

"I'm Haros."

Her eyes widened. "Hades' assistant!"

"I am merely a servant to whomever performs the duty of guarding the Underworld." Diana looked at it suspiciously, not knowing what else to ask, where to start. Luckily for her, the creature started talking on its own. "To have some of your questions answered, I do not know what exactly I am. I was created to transfer the human souls here. Hades gave me a figure that resembles a human, and he referred to me as a 'he', although I cannot say I feel connected to any of the genders of the human world, for I am not human."

"That covers a part of my questions, I guess…" Diana commented, noticing that its tone was calm and somewhat friendly. It didn't move its lips to speak, its voice just come from somewhere within.

"We sensed a change in the hierarchy. Hades finally put his plan to action and we need to get you ready for your duties, Princess."

So it knew her, Diana noticed. Hades had been planning this for quite a while now. "I am not going to have any duties. I'm not staying."

"You cannot leave now. The door is enchanted, I believe you are already familiar with this information. Plus, the Underworld requires that you stay, for the balance of the world to be left intact."

"Hades needs to stay. I am not Hades."

"You are his daughter and you are suited to rule. If neither one of you is down here, the souls will easily escape and roam among the living. I believe you understand how disastrous that could prove."

"How can they escape?!"

"They're souls. They long to finish their businesses and to be alive again. It is only through your physical presence that they cannot escape. That is the power of the Guardian. It commands souls to stay."

"The Guardian can control the souls themselves, Haros. I've seen Hades do it!"

"Yes, the Guardian can do this. It's part of the power. I am afraid you do not possess that part, but your sole genetic power can keep them confined. You do not need to do many other tasks."

"Other than to stay locked inside Hell for the rest of eternity? Thank you, but I'm not having it."

Haros didn't comment on the statement. It simply took a step behind and turned around, the shreds of its garment flowing around as it glided above the ground. "Follow me, Princess. I will show you around."

Diana followed him, shaking her head in disappointment. There had to be a way out. For now, her best option was to stick with Haros. It seemed to know much. And she needed all the information she could get.

The Underworld was a strange place. Though Diana could find no light source around, she could _see._ There were no turns, or signs or roads, but it was clear that they were following a certain direction that Diana felt like she already knew. She was following Haros, but it creeped her out that she thought she didn't need its guidance, really.

At the end of their route, Diana knew they had reached the 'Port'; the place where all new souls came to. A dark river bank brushed upon the ground they were standing. "Acheron." Diana mumbled. The river of the dead.

"Yes. The entrance." Haros agreed, stretching out its hand, as if to present the sight.

Diana took a closer look. The river was stretching out far away, with no visible end or horizon. On it, several boats were floating towards the bank coming from all directions. Exact replicas of Haros were rowing the boats, carrying what seemed to be a faded-out version of a human as a passenger.

"Your siblings?" Diana heard herself ask absentmindedly, wondering why that was the thing she felt like she had to ask, and not about the 'humans'. She knew those were souls. She could feel it.

"No, I have no such thing as a family. These are all Haros as well. We are one, united intelligence, with several physical manifestations. Only one wouldn't be enough to row the continuous flow of incoming souls in."

"I see…"Diana mumbled, her gaze jumping now from one soul to the other. The expression on their faces was a scared, sad one and their eyes all looked glassy and unfocused. As she took a look through the eyes of what seemed to be a young man, she could see his whole life going through her head. His childhood, his memories, his parents, his first job, his boyfriend, his pet, his last moments in a car crash. Diana shook her head and fazed out of the small limbo she had entered.

"It is normal." Haros said, understanding what had happened. "The Guardian controls the souls, you said so yourself. Part of that control is unifying with it in a way. Its memories, its feelings, everything, are all open to you. I wouldn't suggest delving too much into them."

"Why is that?" Diana wondered. She was, technically, the Queen of the place. A small journey through some memories shouldn't be able to do her any harm.

"Your human nature allows your mind to be flexible and influenced by them. It could compromise your conscience's integrity."

"Didn't Hades get compromised all this time?"

"Hades was god. His conscience was steadier, but he might have been influenced to some extent too. I cannot tell."

 _I will be fine,_ she said to herself. _It's not like I'm going to be staying here for too long._

"Why do they all look so…sad? Isn't death supposed to bring you peace? Closure?" She couldn't help but keep looking at the souls. They all looked so empty, so broken. Some of their memories went through her head and she had to try hard not to see them all.

"As they come here, the souls take a long look at the time they were alive. What you see in your head, it's what they see coming here. They long to live their happy moments again, they regret their decisions, they miss their life. That is why they all look what you would describe miserable."

"How long does this last, Haros?" Diana asked. "This…trip to the Underworld?"

"Here, as long as you see it. Up, on the world of the living, probably just a small fraction of the smallest time fraction you humans use. I've heard that people that die and are brought back, are changed when they return to the living. Therefore, I suppose during the time your new technologies take to bring them back, they manage to take this small journey through their life."

"Interesting…"

"Humans are getting ruder to death and greedier for life every century. They use their science and manage to cheat death sometimes. But death is stronger, and the only thing they can't ever escape."

"Philosophical, now, are you, Haros?" Diana asked with a small smile.

"Eternity is a long time to spend without having thoughts on things, Princess." Diana nodded in understanding. "Shall we move on with the tour?"

Diana felt, as they were walking, that they were approaching something bigger, much more important. It wasn't far. Or maybe it was, she didn't understand. At is seemed, time and space were both hazy down in the Underworld.

She was proven right soon, as they approached three tall entrances to…something. Upon a closer inspection, the entrances were just three big rifts of the matter that surrounded them, reaching up high, as far as the eye could see.

"The final resting place." Diana mumbled, with a weird certainty.

"You are a natural." Haros joked, but Diana decided not to reply. "Though 'resting' might be somewhat sugar-coating."

"Mm? How come?" Diana wondered, but her question was soon replied when she looked inside. The first 'room', if she could call the endless space inside a room, had souls that seemed at peace indeed. She could feel their tranquillity, they were just…Zen.

"These are indeed, the resting souls." Haros explained. "Souls that lived a happy life, or came to terms with death or found salvation in a way or another. The minority of the souls."

"The sad minority." Diana commented, but smiled before looking away, to the souls that almost seemed like greeting her in a away, giving her glimpses of happy memories to see.

The next room was packed with souls. Souls troubled, nostalgic, worrying. A small look in their eyes filled Diana's head with images of loved ones, stories with no ending to satisfy them, lives short lived. She averted her eyes. It wasn't pleasant.

"The lingering ones." Haros went on. "They all have something in the living that can't let them rest. Be it another living, be it a story that ate them alive while they were…alive, be it something. Again, don't delve too much in them, they will consume you. They are too many too- the majority in fact."

"I can see that..." She furrowed her eyebrows. Who would have thought that dead people would carry this many worries. "Can they…be freed? From whatever's keeping them lingering?" She asked, with a genuine concern.

"Some."

"How?"

"If it is another living being tying them, they can be released when that being either dies, or is finally safe or at ease. Some of the souls have extreme mind power and manage to let go of the businesses that worry them in some centuries of retrospection. They are doomed to think their lives over and over again for all of eternity. Some let it go at some point. Not many, though. Just about one or two each decade of the living world."

"Sad…"She said again, thinking that she might never find something to not make her sad down there. With a small sigh, she turned her look inside the last rift. Just a mere, fast look was enough to make Diana full of anger and disgust. The souls were being tortured, and there was absolutely no hint of something good in their memories. It was too much for her to bear, she couldn't look any more.

"The tormented ones."Haros explained. "Humans that were so -what you would call- evil and sinful, that not even death can give them anything close to serenity. They are judged and put here, sentenced to relive their worst memories in a state of constant agony.

"They deserve this." Diana spat without a second thought. She knew it. They were murderers, traitors, rapists, all kinds of despicable, pitiful beings. "But how is it decided, who goes here and who goes to the lingering? Not all of the people that did bad things were necessarily bad."

"The Underworld has a 'default' system for some 'offences'. Rapists, murderers, sadists, some other categories, are immediately sorted here. For others, the Guardian decides."

"The Guardian, really?!"

"Yes. You can see everything the soul knows and has experienced; feelings and memories. It is enough to decide what kind of treatment it deserves now."

"Hm." She mumbled in thought, as a wild idea crossed her head. "Where are those…default settings?"

 ***Not much Wonderbat here, but the fic needs to take its time to unfold!**

 **Some Underworld info that we'll see more through the next chapters too, with more Bruce as well. I hope you enjoyed it. Coming up, Diana's first trials and encounters in the Underworld, as she tries to understand what's happening to her. Stay tuned and thanks for reading!**

 **PS. Don't mind any typos!***


	3. 3 - Determination

***Thank you all so much for reading/reviewing/following! I'm glad to see you interested in this original idea! I don't have much to say now other than the usual 'thank you', so we'll head right to it, then.**

 **P.S. Please don't mind any typos!**

 **P.S.2: Do not, obviously, take anything I include here as 'canon' in the Greek mythology, I am making stuff up, that's what writers do. :p ***

 **CHAPTER THREE – DETERMINATION**

It didn't take long for Haros to show Diana the rest of the Underworld places; the throne room, the so-called library, the alchemy hall. The throne room naturally presented no interest to her. It was Hades' big, pompous black throne and nothing else. Haros explained that the throne had a mechanism that allows it to gradually adapt to the Guardian's personality and after many millennia of Hades' reign, it was no wonder that it had the image it did; big, towering, with shiny black spikes and thorns reaching all over. Diana detested it from the beginning. Haros told her that it would take a form to suit her better the more she sat, to which she replied that she had no intentions to sit there, let alone for a considerable while for it to change.

The 'library' was where Hades has gathered manuscripts and books from around the world throughout the passing centuries. Diana wondered how he was able to get these things here since they belonged in the living world, but Haros explained that due to Hades' godly power and decent, when he wasn't completely confined in the Underworld, he was able to get many things down there, but knowledge was what he craved the most. Therefore, the 'library' was created. And it was confirmed when Diana shortly inspected the books, that the information written in the books was in many cases outdated, since Hades didn't have the chance to get his hands on more modern books. He could, however, Diana thought, learn through the memories of the people.

Finally the alchemy hall was a small 'space' where some mystical objects were gathered. Most of them were Hades' personal belongings, like some pieces of his armour and a few objects from Olympus. She recognized a 'hyalon', an object she had only seen drawn in books about Olympus she read as a kid. A hyalon, she recalled, was something the Gods used to contact each other or convey messages. It could summon Iris, the godly messenger, when they had no other way of creating a rainbow or summoning her. For Diana, it almost looked like the perfect escape plan, if she could just communicate with her friends and her colleagues. To her dismay, however, Haros added that it could only be used by the original Olympians only. Diana then felt how unjust it was, that she couldn't for once use her ties to Hades for her own benefit, and how equally unjust it was that she, a half-blood daughter of Hades couldn't use it, but Athena, a half-blood daughter of Zeus could, just because she was included in the so-called "Twelve Gods."

Diana took some time to fit everything in her head. Again, was it considerable time? Or just some seconds? She couldn't tell. She only felt like it was too much. Not too much to understand, but too much to handle. Her place wasn't down there! It was up, with the living! She wasn't a goddess. At least not a full one. Who knew what this place could do to her in the end. She needed to get out.

Casually following her instinct, which seemed to know the place by heart, she reached the river bank once again. The boats kept coming and going, as the Haros duplicated rowed eerily and silently. She refrained from looking at the souls now; she didn't feel like taking a dive into anyone's life as it was.

She only thought that the souls and the boats must come from somewhere. There had to be another side. And she would find it. Summoning up her courage, she levitated above the ground and started flying over Acheron, to the other side. She didn't care how much it would take; she would reach the end no matter what.

Looking down, she could see her reflection on the dark waters. Maybe it was just her, but something was looking different, though she couldn't really pinpoint what. Shaking the thought away, she kept flying. Nothing was changing on the scenery for as far she could see. Haros kept rowing in, slowly, quietly, and the more she flew, the more desperate she started to feel. Nothing was different. Nothing at all. She took a deep breath and pushed herself ahead. She needed to get to the end. There were people waiting for her, she couldn't fail them!

After what felt like hours and nothing changing, a Haros on a boat spoke to her.

"Princess."

Diana stopped flying for a moment to answer. Haros was alone on the boat. "Yes, Haros?"

"It is pointless. You are not going to reach anything."

Diana sighed. "I have to try."

"Save yourself the trouble, I take this route eternally. I should know what I'm talking about."

Diana felt like it would smile if it could and sighed again. It was right. "Why are you alone?" She asked, changing the subject.

"My soul was taken back. Resuscitation I believe." Diana simply nodded. "Go back, Princess. You must be exhausted."

And as if he had cast a spell on her, Diana felt her eyelids heavy like lead, her head drowsy and her body weak. In a split second, she free-fell into the dark waters of Acheron, surrendering herself to the currents.

The Acheron water was like balsam on her skin. Soft, soothing, not cold but not warm either. It felt as if it was caressing her, enveloping her in a safe cocoon from everything that could possibly harm her. It felt like…a familiar set of dark, piercing eyes and a hasty kiss in a diner.

And just like that, the nice, warm feeling of _home_ , vanished, as the void sensation of not having any of that anymore took its place. She was all alone, down there.

When she reopened her eyes, she was lying calmly in front of the river bank, the water stroking her feet. She got up and saw Haros standing close by.

"Can I help you, Haros?"

"I thought that maybe I could help _you_ with some company."

Diana half-smiled. "The only way you can help me, is by getting me out of here."

"I am afraid I cannot do that."

"Come on, Haros, you must miss your old boss. You spent an eternity together."

"I am a mere servant to whomever performs the duty of the Guardian. Do not, Princess, for a moment, entertain the thought that I ever take sides, or have favourites, or act on anything that doesn't promote my duties as such."

"I'm sorry but I find that extremely hard to believe. You can't just be a servant. An intelligence like yours goes way above that."

"I was created to serve, and that is solely what I do."

Diana chuckled. "Please. I've heard your philosophical inquiries, your little sarcastically toned sentences, your suggestions. You chose to express yourself like that, you chose to come see me now, you chose to show me around, you make a lot of choices for someone who is just made to obey."

"…Are you trying to get somewhere with this, Princess?"

"Your intelligence is too advanced not to contain the element of free will, Haros. Whether you see it, or not."

"Let's agree to disagree here."

She shrugged. "Suit yourself, for now. I will prove to you how much of that free will you possess. Humans are afraid of their own machines just because they keep making them smarter, and you're saying that an intelligence of your level can't contain free will. Spare me. Now, I will head to the library. I need to brainstorm on the 'default settings' I told you before."

Haros took a small bow and left.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

There wasn't a single aspect of the case left undocumented; not a single cubic centimetre of the Gate unexamined, not a single Amazon unquestioned, not a single column in the Chamber uncharted.

There had to be something, Bruce was sure of it. There was always something. He just had to find it soon.

He had called up an urgent League meeting right away. It would be a 'Priority A' League mission to rescue Wonder Woman and find Hades, who was nowhere to be found, as no sources around the globe reported any sightings of him.

It really worried him, the Hades matter. Though it was possible that the God of the Dead just wanted some time to vent away from the Underworld, he found it too naïve to believe it. Hades wouldn't settle for some…vacations. He would want it all; revenge and power. He had to be preparing something, and even if he didn't, they needed him back in order to take Diana. So it was crucial to find it.

New League stations were installed, with more frequent patrols and an advanced protocol on reports, to include anything mildly suspicious. He had done anything he could do, but Bruce was feeling cripplingly inadequate. He couldn't even think of something that could work and his resources had already almost run out.

One more night had found him sitting in front of his monitors in the Bat Cave. He couldn't recall the last time he had worn something other than the Batsuit. He spent his hours shuffling through the surveillance images from every coordinate around the planet, hoping he would finally see something, but once again, it was fruitless.

He closed his eyes and pressed the bridge of his nose frowning. He had to be honest with himself; this was too much even for his own standards and more than he would do for any other Leaguer besides Superman maybe. Well, they were the 'Trinity' as he had heard other Leaguers call them. Without Diana, the Justice League would never be the same.

And neither would he, in all honesty. He couldn't hide from himself, Diana meant too much. Though he tried his best to refrain from expressing anything of the sort, it was obvious. Diana had tried getting close and it hurt more every time he thought of how he had shut her down, thinking that it was for her own good. Turned out, troubles were to find her no matter what he did. And now she wasn't with them anymore.

He sighed in frustration and stood up, feeling his stomach 'whining' for the lack of food. Alfred always kept something in the fridge so he was sure to find something upstairs.

The fridge was unusually complicated. Or maybe he just wasn't used to it. Either way, his eyes couldn't locate the 'leftover' portions his loyal butler kept but to his luck, Alfred just stepped inside the kitchen.

"Hungry, are you, sir?"

"Mm-hm…"Bruce mumbled positively.

"Then be seated and I will serve you." Bruce moved to the table and noticed that Alfred had kept the rest of the food inside the oven. Taking a porcelain plate out of the drawer, the butler served a generous portion of soufflé and brought it to his master. "May I suggest sleeping for the rest of the night, Master Bruce?"

"Easy to say, Alfred. Sleep will not honour me with his presence when my mind is in this state."

Alfred tightened the belt on his silk robe and took a seat across Bruce. "Your exhaustion will not help the case."

Bruce swallowed his bite. "I'm aware of that."

"Shall I prepare a tea for you?" Bruce gave Alfred a stern look in response. "Fine, sir. But dwelling underground for this long won't help you get over what happened."

"I don't need to get over it, Alfred. I need to resolve it."

"And I honestly hope you do, Master Bruce. Even I am already missing Princess Diana, I can only imagine what it must feel _for you._ But the truth is, that situation is very complicated. It might be a matter that cannot be resolved."

"Your support means a lot." Bruce replied sarcastically.

"I am sorry if I'm not being too supportive, but it is bringing you down too much, sir. You described what happened and I'm just as distraught about it as you are. However, we cannot rule out the possibility that this might be it."

Bruce sighed and kept on chewing. Alfred could get extremely gloomy sometimes, he thought, even though that was rich coming from himself. If only he had something to try.

"If nothing else," Alfred went on with a small smile underneath his moustache, thinking that a bit of humour could lighten them both up, "you will see each other again in the afterlife."

Bruce almost choked. How hadn't he thought about it before?! It was… it was crazy but it could work!

He hastily got up, thanked Alfred, and ran to the BatJet.

OOO-OOO—OOO-OOO-OOO

If Diana wanted to truly make her time down there matter, she would better make it something good, to last. She had decided to change Hades' criteria on who would be sent to the Lingering Realm or the Tormented one. And at first it seemed easy, but weighing in on people's intentions and actions was harder than she thought. Who could put all of the people in one box?

She had seen, for example, that it was easier for a woman to enter the Tormented souls when she was cheating, than a man with the same amount of unethical actions. That was wrong. But by whose societal constructions was in general cheating wrong? In some cultures, polyamory was normal. Diana was baffled with a lot of matters of that sort. For one thing she was certain, and it was the first change she did, when she paved the way for the souls of abusers in the Tormented Realm. She wouldn't tolerate violence between partners and families it all. She only wished it was just as easy with the rest of the cases of 'default'.

Haros had also let her know that several souls required 'clarification'. That meant that she was to judge and decide where they would be sent. And she didn't want to do that. Only that she…had to. Unclassified souls, according to Haros, tended to be very unstable. Whatever that meant.

She postponed the 'trials' just a bit, to go to one of the places she had soon realized were the friendlier inside there. And so she sat by the entrance of the Resting.

The Realm was luminous and the souls floated around like clouds. From what she had seen, the manifestation of the Resting souls took the image of the person in their happiest time. The Lingering ones were usually how they were at the time they died and the Tormented were just a disfigured mess, that she dreaded to even look at whenever she happened to pass from there. But the Resting ones were something else.

Just one look at an old lady's soul's eyes filled her mind with images of small kids running around, plenty of cookie-baking and knitting. She saw the hard times as well, the war, her being a nurse, her first, dreadful husband, the loss of her second child. But it was all shown to her in such a way, that Diana didn't feel like it was sad. It was a life that came a full circle, found closure and a happy ending. And Diana thought it was beautiful.

Smiling to herself, she got up and headed for the throne room. It was time she proved Haros something, and get the judging thing out of the way. She had a lot of studying to do and a hyalon to get working.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

J'onn looked at the physiological numbers with a troubled look.

"Batman, I wouldn't advise going forth with this."

"Would you say it's possible?" Bruce insisted.

"It would seem so."

"So, should we find a suitable candidate, we might have a chance."

J'onn gave Batman a long, examining look. "If we find that the risk is calculated."

Bruce couldn't care less about the risk as long as they had an opportunity to contact Diana.

It was on.

 ***A small intro to what is going to happen next! Diana gets to be a real Guardian and Bruce puts his idea to action. Thanks for reading so far! Stay tuned!***


	4. 4 - Sorting Out

***Hello dear readers. Thank you all for joining me in another chapter of this fic, and thank you for your support so far! As mentioned before, I have improvised with the mythology a bit, the hyalon doesn't exist in anything, it's just a word I made up, based on the Greek word for glass, since it looks like a mirror, a 'looking glass'. Plus it sounds nice. :D**

 **Happy reading and as always, don't mind the typos!***

 **CHAPTER FOUR – SORTING OUT**

Bruce's idea had carefully been spread among select and few Leaguers. He didn't wish for it to expand just yet, they needed to test it out first.

Predictably enough, Superman, Flash, Captain Marvel and even –though somewhat reluctantly- Green Lantern had volunteered. He was indeed glad to see his companions as willing as he was to get Wonder Woman back, even at their own risk.

Bruce didn't lose any time as soon as he had the volunteers list on his hands. He downloaded all of the Leaguers' medical files and started calculating.

First of all, he crossed Clark out of the list. It was almost impossible to 'kill' him without Kryptonite, and they didn't have enough data on a Kryptonian's physiology, especially when it came to resuscitation. Also, if we were to assume all human souls went to the Underworld, would a Kryptonian soul go there too? Or would it be incompatible? All in all, Bruce concluded, Clark was the least suitable candidate.

Captain Marvel was a complicated matter. It was a… well-known secret that it wasn't a grown man, but a kid underneath; Billy Batson. And that raised, for starters, many ethical questions. If he were to choose him, he would be endangering a child. Also, Billy, by his age, wasn't mature enough to be able to assess the situation properly. Aside from those questions, Bruce wasn't sure if his transformation would still 'exist' once his heart would stop beating. And medically handling children was widely different from handling adults at their prime. Therefore, Captain Marvel was also ruled out.

Flash now. Flash was, at first sight, a very good option. A body in perfect condition, with no known diseases, previous operations or any other flaw. Just a minor accident with an electric strike that gave him super speed. Blood tests that had been done to him had shown slight abnormalities to his body's electrolyte balance and an EMG had shown abnormal electric surges and signals in his muscles. It made sense, of course, since he had super speed, but that could mean that those electric differences could complicate the putting-down and bringing-back process. Not to mention that it could possibly not work at all with him. Flash was, unfortunately, another no-go.

As the process went on, Bruce came to the conclusion that had been creeping on his mind ever since he conceived the idea. It was going to be him, of course. Who else would be a better fit for the task that _he_ came up with anyway? He should be the one to do it. In this way, should it fail, he would be the one to suffer the consequences, and no one else.

Determined to do it as fast as possible, he went to find J'onn.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Diana approached the throne, smiling mildly. She thought she might have actually found out something to amuse herself with. Somewhat reluctantly, she took a seat on the black throne of her 'father' and tapped her fingers on its surface. Haros approached the side of the throne and entwined its long fingers.

"After you're done examining the soul, just pronounce the name of the Realm decisively and the soul will travel there automatically." It explained and Diana nodded as she saw three souls approaching and floating right before her.

Composing herself just a little a bit before, she looked straight through the glassy eyes of the first deceased man whose destination was yet to be decided.

A childhood with an immigrant mom and a drunk father. The father was violent a couple of times. The man was a school bully. Became milder when he entered college to study finance, met a nice girl there. He was good to the girl, he loved her. They got married, he got a steady job, she got pregnant. Things became worse as the girl's pregnant behaviour irritated him and he didn't find his requests at home satisfied. The baby irritated him too. To get his mind off things, he worked more. His wife complained, as the child grew bigger, that the money wasn't enough and he didn't let her work. His sense of duty was strong, Diana could see. He felt that he should be the only one to provide for his family.

Yet whatever he did never seemed to be enough. His child ignored him, his wife despised him. He started drinking. One night, when his son's behaviour was too cocky for his liking, he planted his fist on the teen's jaw and gave his wife bruises when she tried to get between them. They left him. He got desperate, he got needy. Diana felt his memory was hazy when he was going through the events that followed; a bar fight, groping a poor girl at his office, bad-mouthing everyone and anyone, harassing his secretary. One day, the police came and took him away. The girl from his office, his secretary, his wife and his son all teamed up against it and he served time in jail. During his time there, he thought a lot. He regretted everything he did. He tried apologizing but his family had left him for good.

He spent his last years trying to find them. All he ever found out was that his son had now a daughter and that he had changed his last name to his mother's. The man took up drinking again. Drinking, and whores and dirty work just to get by. He died alone, after what seemed to be liver cancer.

Diana stopped delving into his life and exhaled loudly. "So, Haros… Can you see into them too?"

"No, Princess, I cannot. That is a privilege of the Guardian."

"Mm. Let me tell you his story then." Diana narrated what she had seen shortly, mentioning the key events of his life. Haros nodded by the end of the narration, not commenting further. "So, where should we put him?"

"Wherever you decide."

"Oh, well. I don't want to decide." Diana said, shuffling her hair.

Haros seemed quite taken aback, though its face was as expressionless as ever. "You have to, it is your duty."

"I don't remember agreeing to this…"

"Please, Princess. You know how this needs to be done."

"You pick, then."

"I can't."

"Yes, you can. You will pick, I will pronounce it and off he will go."

"I cannot make decisions, Princess. That is not how I was created."

"Well, as I told you before, I beg to differ. Your intelligence is far too great for you not being able to take a side. Go on."

"I cannot."

"Alright, then I won't do it either." Diana announced, like a small, spoiled child, crossing her hands over her chest and lazily observing her fingernails.

"Princess, I urge you, the souls cannot stay unclassified for long. They are too unstable."

"So? What does unstable mean? Will they tear this place down with their 'instability'? Good for me then."

"Unclassified souls can connect with the living, making strange appearances and enhancing ambitious necromancers, a genre of humans you should most definitely avoid, as the Guardian."

Diana rolled her eyes. "As if I give a damn if some teenagers see a ghost in a creepy mansion swearing that 'dude it was, like, real, for real'."

"You are being immature."

Diana smiled widely. Haros was actually _scolding_ her. It was getting irritated, and that was good for her. "Yes. And you are being uncooperative."

"I simply can't do what you ask."

"What if I order you? Haros, pick a Realm for this soul."

"Princess, this is your job."

"This is my prison, Haros. Not my job. My job is rescuing alive humans, in the world above, and I'm currently on unpaid leave…"

"You're stalling, the soul is already getting unstable!" Haros said, pointing at the man's soul, which seemed to be getting hazier.

"Then pick a Realm! I am not doing it, it's up to you." Diana kept smiling, pretending she didn't care, though something inside her kept telling her that the unclassified soul was indeed something to worry about.

Haros appeared to be uncomfortable, clenching and unclenching its bony fists while its head moved from Diana's direction to the soul's and back. Diana sighed and turned her gaze boringly to the ground, letting her head fall to her shoulder. With the corner of her eye, she saw the state of the soul deteriorating, as it became even foggier.

She hoped that Haros would finally make a choice. She needed it to realize the obvious; that it was capable of picking on its own. And she really wondered why it was so negative about it, when anyone would see that such a creature was of course perfectly able of deciding and having opinions on its own. And therefore, Diana hoped that Haros, after some retrospect, would see that its former boss was more suited for this line of work and that they worked perfectly well all these years, and help her bring him back. All she wanted, in the end, was for Haros to pick a favorite in its head, and start acting on its feelings. That is, if Hades was Haros' favorite, they would work to get him back, and if Diana was Haros' favorite, Diana would call upon Haros' sentiments to help her get back where she is the happiest, which is on Earth. Either way, Diana would get the help that she needed.

"Tormented!" Haros said and Diana grinned. Finally.

"To the Tormented!" Diana repeated after him and instantly, the soul went back to its former appearance and floated to the designated Realm. "Good job, Haros. You made your first conscious decision."

"I do not enjoy this."

"Of course you don't, because it's new. You are not accustomed with using that…atrophic free will of yours. We are here to cultivate it. I thought I could give you a small push."

"…I don't understand."

"Oh, you will. I need your help, my friend, and for that help, I also need you to awake a little bit."

"I am perfectly awake."

"No, and I just proved it to you. You _thought_ you couldn't make a choice, yet you just did."

"For the sake of my duties."

"It doesn't make it any different. Though I must say, I would have expected you to show some mercy since he…kind of realized he was wrong."

"That doesn't undo the harm he caused to those other people."

Diana half-smiled at his adamant judgement. Haros had so much more hidden than what reached the eye. "I'm glad we get to explore this side of yours, Haros. Now, another question. He was an abuser. Why wasn't he straight-away classified to the Tormented?"

"Because while he was living, he realized he was wrong. Asking for forgiveness and redemption is taken into serious consideration during the classification process. So much, that it sometimes overrules the automatic selection and is put upon the Guardian to decide again."

Diana nodded. Things down here were more complicated than she had originally thought. "Alright. Let's get going. _We_ have some other souls to judge as well."

Haros felt uncomfortable with the 'we' use. It couldn't think of any use of what Diana was doing. And he didn't know if he was suitable in any way to help out or take the responsibility of such a judgement. Yet, something new was emerging inside of it, and Haros wondered if this is how contained excitement felt like.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Bruce found the rhythmical beeping of the machines calming. A whole bunch of cables were connected to patches on his skin, his fingers, his IV tube and his oxygen mask. J'onn kept pacing back and forth, checking the machinery, his vitals, the equipment and making sure that everything was ready.

Bruce inhaled deeply and exhaled long.

He had always wondered how it felt to die. Was it something instant? Did it hurt? What came after that? Would he find peace there? Would he see _them?_ His questions would finally be answered.

And it scared him a bit. What if he realized it was perfect? Would he detest life once he was brought back? Would he become suicidal? How would that affect him?

He shook those thoughts away. It didn't matter. It didn't matter what happened to him, or his head, as long as _she_ was brought back safe and sound, because that was all the reason he was doing this for.

"Batman, we're ready." J'onn announced monotonously. Bruce looked through the ward's glass, saw Clark nodding decisively at him, and at his turn, nodded at J'onn.

Bruce shut his eyes and a press of a button and an electric shock later, his heart stopped beating.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Diana sighed, looking at her reflection on the dark waters. She really disliked this place. She disliked judging people's lives, she disliked the energy of the souls, she disliked what was happening to herself. Because she was not the same and she knew it. Something about her face, her deeper self, her…soul was off. Maybe it was just the Underworld effect, or Hades' genes coming to life –ironically- but she disliked it.

The only place she could find some peace of mind was near the relieved souls, but she couldn't even stay there too long, because she would take a look sooner or later, and down she would go, at the memories of that soul. And yes, they might be happy sometimes, but memories are memories, and not hers. They take their toll.

She kicked the waters and huffed. Honestly, she was desperate to get out, but with no idea how to do that anyhow. And the thought that she would never escape was indeed creeping inside her head. That was the reason she was trying to find something to like, she reckoned, although she ended up disliking everything.

Judging with Haros had gone smoothly after her attempt to get it to help her. The rest of the souls ended up Lingering and she was free to leave again. Her steps had led her to the Acheron shore.

Haros' duplicates were calmly rowing the souls in at a steady pace. Diana sat down and placed her head on her knees, observing the scenery, trying to remember the last time she slept. Or ate. Or…drank water. Did she have any biological needs down there at all? She didn't feel hungry, or sleepy, or thirsty or in need of a toilet break, though she had been there for a significant amount of time. She wondered if she was turning into a vampire, but that fantasy thought was cut short when she caught sight of something very disturbing and jumped up.

Haros, the same as ever, rowed to bring its boat closer. Opposite of it, sat the manifestation of the soul of a man she hoped to never encounter down there; Bruce Wayne.

Diana contained a shriek and took a closer look. It was, indeed, Bruce; she could never mistake him of all people. He had a miserable look on his face and his eyes, though glassy in this…form, did hold a small hint of that penetrative look the man he was once had. She didn't have time to think about it twice in the state of shock she was, so she just slipped into a small trip through his head.

He had a happy childhood, at least the first years. He lived surrounded by luxury and love from his parents and Alfred. Then one night, a mugging-went-wrong took Martha and Thomas away. Diana could feel how strongly engraved on his memories the sight of those bodies was. Bruce must have relived it in his head every single day of his life, for this memory to be able to hold this level of detail; every garment they wore, the cracks on the sidewalk, the flickering of the 'Exit' sign above the door.

His mental state went downhill from there. He just barely…lived. Did his chores, attended his school, but he was miserable. It was eating him alive, that corrupted city he called home.

And somehow that determination started building up as he grew up. The idea of Batman emerged –he was afraid of bats, Diana saw, and he took it upon himself to cleanse Gotham. Ra's Al Ghul, the Joker, Poison Ivy, all those villains he had to deal with left their own mark on him. Diana could feel how strongly he felt for his 'Robin' too; the pure love for Nightwing, the undying need to protect him and his will to make him the best he can be.

And then came Justice League. Diana knew he wasn't a big fan of the group at first and she saw it in his memories too. He didn't want people getting to close to this line of work and his 'business'. But he knew the world needed this and condoned.

She also saw how the first time they met was a strong memory around there too. Was she truly that…radiant or was it only how Bruce saw her? He was confused, she saw. And boy, did he want her. But his emotions towards her were like a never-ending seesaw.

And that seesaw had enough momentum to make him do what he did. Diana cringed at his decision to do something so reckless as to actually commit controlled suicide only to come near.

She stopped observing inside him, only to realize that her stomach was tied in a knot and she was feeling horrible. For one, at least, she knew why he was there and that he would probably be taken back, and that relieved her a bit. She thought that she should have been moved by the gesture, but she was actually angry. How could he ever be so reckless and disregard his life like that? Didn't he realize how precious he was?

And, on the other hand, she also felt devastated, because she never really pursued her own feelings towards him enough. And now she may never have another chance to see him again, to touch him, to speak to him.

Instinctively, she flew to the boat and landed right between Haros and Bruce's soul.

"Can I help you, Princess?" Haros asked, never ceasing to row.

"I know this man." Diana said, never taking her look away from the soul.

"Then accept my deepest condolences." Haros said, in a manner that betrayed how purely typical he was being, and not really affectionate.

"Oh, Bruce..." Diana mumbled, kneeling in front of the soul. She timidly stretched her hand to touch his cheek, only to have it go straight through. The soul wasn't something tangible, of course, she realized. And a lone tear run down her cheek, inviting more to start falling, as she wondered why they were coming.

"It appears you were close with this human." Haros commented. "I _am_ sorry for your loss."

"He will leave." Diana said decisively. "He won't stay here."

Before Haros could usher a response, Bruce's soul vanished and the boat was left vacant of a passenger. Diana smiled relieved and wiped some tears away.

"A medium, are you?" Haros asked, somewhat jokingly.

"I looked through him. It was his plan to come here to see me. He wants to help me go back."

"A determined human, most definitely. Too bad you cannot communicate with him since humans are not actually…conscious anymore down here."

"I will figure this out." Diana said, flying off.

At that moment, she decided that she had to keep close to her sanity and her true self, and refuse to be sucked into this hole forever. Because it was changing her moment by moment, and she had to cling to her will. The moment she stopped fighting it, she would have lost.

She landed near the few belongings of Hades and the 'library'. Maybe she would finally find something there. And she had to update Haros on a few things as well.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Bruce was welcomed to the world of the living again –at least when he regained consciousness- by Clark's impatient face right above his head.

"So? Did you see her? How is she?"

Bruce simply frowned and sat up on the bed, trying to recollect himself. His chest was aching, but that was to be expected. Other than that, he was physically fine. Mentally, he was…confused. It felt as if he had spent a week of going through his life again and again and again. He did feel grateful for being back, though. In such a sense, that he felt like…celebrating, or _doing something_ for it. But no Diana whatsoever.

"No. And if I did, I cannot remember anything."

"Damn it!" Clark said, throwing his hands up. "And it was so promising! I was so sure we would have…something."

"At least we now know that this isn't working." Bruce said, with a sigh.

Clark nodded sadly. "I will leave you to rest then. See if there's any news on Hades too."

Bruce nodded as well and the Kryptonian left.

Bruce frowned and shut his eyes, pushing his mind to think and try to remember. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't seem to get a new glimpse of Diana in his memories and it frustrated it him.

He had made so many mistakes, he thought, though. He could now see clearly how many chances he had lost and how many things he had handled the wrong way. And he could now try and fix them. He had this chance at least.

But why was he feeling like this all of a sudden? Maybe it was death indeed, he thought. Maybe in the 'afterlife', people relived their lives, and that is why when he came back he felt almost relieved to have a new chance at things. It made sense, he figured. At least he didn't feel suicidal, longing to be dead again.

But what was Hades and Diana's part as god and goddess of the Underworld? What did they do? He felt like scolding himself for not having researched more on the subject when he knew there was an Underworld, but again, he had too many living problems to solve to be able to bother with the dying ones.

He sighed. They were back to square zero, and as it seemed, it was up to Diana to find something to do. He only hoped she knew what to do.

 ***I'm sorry I took quite long to update, I have been very busy! And I don't know when I will update again, but I hope soon enough. Thank you for reading so far!**

 **P.S. If you have read some other fics of mine, you will know that I don't complicate the JL storyline with Batman's other storylines too much, I only usually add Nightwing so as to keep it simple. ***


	5. 5 - Fortunate Encounters

***Thank you all so much for supporting this fic with your favs/follows/reviews. I am glad to see you enjoying this original storyline and I hope I can come up with a nice way to wrap things up by the end, which I honestly don't know if it's approaching or not. I'm working on it as the chapters go by. ^^**

 **Without further ado, enjoy your reading and please ignore the typos I didn't see while re-reading.***

 **CHAPTER FIVE – FORTUNATE ENCOUNTERS**

Diana observed the hyalon closely. It was no different than an ordinary, silver, oval mirror. It wasn't wider than her shoulder width, or taller than a meter high. It was just a plain, old mirror.

At least for those that didn't know better.

Diana ran her finger in circles below the hyalon's frame, on the border of the reflecting surface. Soon, it started trembling, like the surface of a calm lake being disturbed by the toss of a small pebble. The 'waves' kept getting bigger and more intense and Diana stopped moving her hand. They gradually became smoother and when they completely calmed down, the surface shone brightly at first, and then the light reflected around, in every colour of the rainbow.

Now, instead of seeing her own reflection, she saw Iris instead.

Iris had eyes like small gems, sparkling and colourful. Her skin was pale and her hair was long and wavy, with streaks of every colour of a sunset; violet, pink, lilac, blue, gold, coral. She had a pair of small, white wings and wore a nice, luxurious ivory tunic. On her right hand, she had her caduceus.

"It's long since I have last been summoned through this hyalon." She said, giving Diana a small smile.

Diana rejoiced at her sight. She responded to the call. She could finally get some help! "It is because I need you to help me, Iris." Diana said with a friendly tone. "I need you to convey a message for me, please."

"I don't know how you came to use this hyalon, Amazon, but you are not an Olympian. Therefore, I cannot obey your command."

Diana's smile was wiped clean from her face. "Please, Iris. I am Hades' daughter."

"Mm, yes, I can sense the connection."

"So? Will you please do me the favour?"

"Your power cannot activate my messenger ability through the hyalon. Farewell."

Just like that, Iris disappeared, the colourful light faded and the hyalon resembled and old mirror once again.

"No!" Diana shouted, and ran her fingers around the frame once again. The waves appeared and smoothened, but no Iris emerged and no rainbow lights lit up the Underworld.

"Bitch!" She cursed, throwing the hyalon down, not caring if it broke or not. The hyalon remained intact anyhow.

Angry as she was, she kicked the first thing that caught her eye. A piece of Hades' armor was thrown a good distance away. She growled and clenched her fists, looking for the next target, when Haros approached.

"What seems to be the fuss, Princess?"

"Iris rejected me."

"I told you so before. She is very selective when it comes to her services."

"Oh come on, it's not like she has much other business going on to not be able to do me one freaking favour."

"She only tends to Olympians' requests."

"Then I'll make myself greater than an Olympian. I'll make myself so powerful, that I will drag her through the glass and snatch her by the hair and _make her_ send my message." Diana announced decisively.

Haros took a few moments of silence to take Diana's tantrum in and the spoke. "Good luck with that."

Diana sighed deeply. "You don't understand, Haros. If I don't make contact, maybe someone else will try to commit controlled suicide again. And what if it doesn't succeed? I don't want anyone to die because I couldn't pass them a damn memo."

"It is a precarious position you're in, indeed."

"Do you have any ideas, then? How could I possibly come in contact?"

Haros thought on that for a moment. "I'm afraid not. Not since we are all locked inside here. I can only think of godly ways."

"Yeah, I'm sure Hermes would be more than happy to be my messenger when his sorry excuse of a substitute wouldn't even bother with me."

"Iris is not his substitute. It's a different goddess."

"Yes, Haros, I know." She sighed again. "I'm doomed."

"There's also Morpheus and Ikelus."

"The dream gods! Yes! Maybe I can communicate with them! But…how? I don't even sleep."

"I am sorry, I can't help you any further."

Diana nodded. "Yes, I understand. Now go, I will read some of those scripts Hades collected. Maybe I'll come up with something."

Haros took a small bow and left.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

"Look, Batman," Zatana explained, "necromancy is not that easy. I looked into it thoroughly and I don't believe we have any chances."

"Elaborate."

"First of all, it's a difficult magical procedure that no League magician is qualified to perform. And in all honesty, we're not exactly willing. Messing with other people's souls takes a toll on our own. Then, we are not even sure if the techniques we found are correct. Necromancy is some sort of…taboo."

"It seems to be our only option at the moment."

"Then I'm sorry to say this, but we're out of options. We can't do this, and it's not going to work. We can't use the souls, that –did you know- necromancers actually call shades, to communicate or ask about Diana. They usually used to summon them for divination, though it is really useless. What can the dead from the past know about the future…"

"So this is your final conclusion."

"I'm afraid so. I tried to find a way to make it work but it's not possible. Dr. Fate agrees with me. Necromancy is out of the question."

"Very well." Bruce said, standing up from his chair and Zatana followed him up.

"I am sorry. I'm still working on the gate but I can't seem to find something either."

"Thought so. Keep it up however."

"Of course I will. We need Wonder Woman back, don't we?" The witch smiled and Bruce simply nodded, exiting the room.

His footsteps led him to his jet. Once inside, he removed his mask and passed a hand through his dense hair, sighing. He let his head fall back and closed his eyes.

Nothing seemed to work. Nothing. No matter what they came up with, they still could get no sign of her, no way to talk to her, to see her, to have her tell them what to do. Something, anything.

He banged his fists on his thighs and turned the engine on. He needed to clear his head and turn his focus towards Hades instead. At least he was somewhere he could be reached. They didn't know where exactly, but they would find out soon enough.

He was thankful that Nightwing had taken up some of his Gotham shifts so that he could concentrate more on the matter in hand. And now he could use that time to calm himself, because he could see that his mental state was only an obstacle to the brainstorming he needed to do.

The good thing about owning a jet like his own, he thought, was the fact that during a minimal amount of time, he could travel to practically any place on the planet. And something told him to visit a plce closer to Diana, on the hopes of getting another idea to try. So Greece it was.

The rocky landscape of the country, paved from the dark blue waters of the Aegean and the Ionian seas always made him feel at ease for some reason. Diana had once said that he reminded her of home sometimes; so cold and at times unfriendly on the outside, but holding such warmth and hidden treasures inside. He had originally, obviously, ignored the comment but maybe it could explain why he felt like this at this place.

Still, Greece was a country and he was just a man. He had to find somewhere in particular to go. He thought about visiting one of the hundreds of islands but on second thought, he opted for Olympus instead. Their trouble was of Olympian nature, it was only suiting, and he felt like it called to him tonight.

It was still night there, so there were no visitors up where he landed the jet. The trekking trail didn't reach the top anyway. He got off and started walking among the trees.

And he couldn't get his mind on anything other than Diana. He kept going over the image of her face and her body, and the memory of her scent, and the way her voice sounded, and the things she liked to talk about. He figured it was some sort of defence mechanism; she wasn't there and if he didn't keep reminding himself of her, maybe he would end up forgetting her characteristics and her altogether. And that would be horrible.

He must have walked a considerable while. The mountain side rose tall, with a few cracks here and there, leading to chasms and small caves. It wasn't a breath-taking sight, but something caught his fancy. For an average person, that would have gone unnoticed. Not for him, though; he wasn't called 'the world's greatest detective' for nothing.

Around the opening of a slightly wider chasm, he noticed how the grass and the climbing plants –ivies and some other local flora species- had weirdly withered. It was still spring, and no other plants around had any signs of decay to suspect some sort of illness spreading around. It was too focal for that.

He put his mask back on and tiptoed to the entrance of the chasm, feeling his heart pace rise. He really didn't expect something to be going on around there, of all places.

He could hear nothing specific, other than some muffled murmurs. He took a deep breath and slid inside the dark opening, pressing against the solid rock. His steps were slow and light, as he tried to be as silent as possible.

The chasm continued further inside, getting somewhat narrower as it went. Bruce felt the pressure on his thorax and his back, but he held his breath and moved deeper. At some point, it finally became wider and he could breathe again. He figured he had gotten close enough.

He managed to take his thermal scanner out and turned it on. It picked up no images of a person or animal close by, only a small 'chamber' by the end of the narrow pathway. Bruce was sure he was hearing something, though. He pressed the side of his earpiece through his mask and turned the echo-enhancer on. Now he could make sense of the murmurs.

A deep, manly voice was speaking in ancient Greek, some unknown to him phrases. He thought it might be some sort of poem since the last words rhymed, but soon he realized that it was a song and that the man was indeed, humming a song about home and a love lost at the sea.

But the thermal scanner was clear; there was no one there. No one to emit thermal energy, then, Bruce thought, and his eyes widened. An Olympian, most definitely. But…who? Diana said they all abandoned Olympus and Greece many centuries ago. They abandoned the world in general, according to her and according to the League's files as well. So that left them with one option; the 'fallen' one.

He thought that it made some sense for him to be here. It wasn't a crowded location, or one that they would suspect right away. Not to mention, that it was the one place he always wanted to be, but his brothers had banished him below.

Bruce swallowed and came up with a plan of action. They had no time to lose, they needed to bring Hades in. He pushed his 'distress' button and sent a direct signal to the Watchtower with his precise coordinates, calling for assistance. Next up, he readied a small talisman that Zatana had given him a year ago, just in case he ever needed a dose of magic somewhere. Bruce hadn't expected it to come in handy tonight, but life was always full of surprises –unpleasant ones usually.

Bruce activated his night vision goggles and threw a smoke bomb inside the rock opening, where Hades was serenading himself. He heard the God of the Dead cough and quickly made his way inside. No matter how dark, Hades' eyes shone bright as he glared at Bruce through the fog. Bruce noticed how reluctant Hades was in summoning power; he still wasn't able to attack, only to defend. So he lost no time in throwing Zatana's talisman, hoping it would keep him down.

Mid-air, the shiny purple artifact buzzed for a second and then burst open. Bruce instinctively shut his eyes and heard Hades growl. When he reopened them, Hades was on the floor, frowning and panting. Bruce took the chance and threw a binding rope on the god, which quickly wrapped around Hades' torso and immobilized him. Bruce held on it tightly and hoped reinforcements would arrive soon. He couldn't take on him alone.

Just a few moments later, while Bruce quickly contemplated in what other ways he could confine his prisoner, Hades recovered and growling even louder, spread his arms apart, tearing the rope and standing up.

"You fool!" He shouted. "You can't bind me! And you can't get her back either." He added, grinning slightly.

Bruce lunged at him, at a desperate attempt to keep him there longer. Hades simply pushed him away, and he slammed with incredible force on the rock wall of the small chamber. Hades huffed and teleported away as Bruce fell on the ground.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Studying so far had been fruitless. Manuscripts over mathematics and the building of temples would definitely not help her grow stronger or escape. Maybe they would come in handy should Diana decide to build a temple in the Underworld because the throne area was not much of her liking. Other than that, they were useless. They were still tons of parchments to read, but she got bored of them soon enough and headed to the most interesting place around there, the Realms.

She stood by the Lingering Realm, leaning upon the opening, which was tangible enough for her to be able to support herself, and watched the souls eerily go back and forth, floating around everywhere.

She wondered how it would be to float among the souls. Would it feel like flying? Like dreaming maybe? Would it be scary? Enveloped in these thoughts, she timidly took a step forward and tried crossing the threshold. It felt like a thin, cold vail wrapped around her skin and she felt ready to dive, but the vail pushed her back and she sighed. It is only for the dead, she thought. And she was very much alive.

She raised her look to the faces of the souls passing from there, trying not to look directly into their eyes. A particular one though, made her observe it closely.

It was the soul of a man in his late thirties, maybe early forties. He was very well dressed, in an uncasual outfit with an overcoat. He sported a moustache too. His style wasn't what caught Diana's eye, however, but his features. The man had a strong jaw, with a dimple, dense eyebrows and a straight nose. And the eyes… Diana glanced at them and felt her stomach tense. It was so much like Bruce. They looked almost identical. And just like that, she entered the man's memories.

He was raised with every comfort in the world, in a manor that Diana knew all too well and recognized; the prestigious Wayne Mansion on the outskirts of Gotham. So this was indeed the late Thomas Wayne.

Thomas was very charismatic and took the same steps as his father towards the management of their Enterprise. He was social and he became a face well-known all throughout the city. While his parents were alive, he was shielded from the evil that lurked in Gotham. After their death, and as he came to rule the tremendous assets of their companies, he realized just how much exposed he was. Him and every citizen in Gotham.

Young and full of optimism as he was, he funded many new charities for Gotham, from hospices to orphanages and donations to families in dire need, hoping to change the city's face for the better. Setting those charities up, he met Martha Kane, heiress to the Kane Chemicals companies and a notorious partygirl of the era. Partygirl and philanthropist, as Thomas found out she used a lot of her family's fortune to aid charities and start some of her own. It didn't take long for them to be an item and for Thomas to realize that she was to be the love of his life.

Diana could feel just how deep that love was. Thomas wanted no one else but Martha, and Martha seemed to be just as much in love as he was. And their wedding was a day engraved in the history of Gotham, as a tale of galore and finesse, wrapped in luxury and festivities.

Soon, Martha got pregnant and Thomas worked more feverishly than ever to ensure that no harm would ever come to his family. He secured his business, checked the foundations of his home, worked hard to fight criminality, and all in all, did everything he could. And on the 19th of February, 33 years ago, Martha gave birth to a perfectly healthy boy and Thomas could literally feel like his heart could take no more love and happiness. Diana felt a tear roll down her right cheek as the rest of his memories kept playing.

The boy, named Bruce, was growing up quickly, and seemed to combine the best assets of both of his parents. He was clever and a quick learner, with the social skills of Martha and the great looks of Thomas, and he won everyone he met over. He was sent to the best of schools and tutors and had his every need catered to by their faithful butler Alfred.

Through Thomas' memories, Diana saw how great Alfred looked in his youth. His hair was pitch-black and dense, his face and body radiated of youth and prowess. He could have been a heartthrob, Diana thought, and felt more tears coming as she knew that Alfred had sacrificed all of that for the sake of a poor boy and his employer.

Thomas wanted his son to be as cultured as possible. And luckily, the boy seemed to be curious about everything and interested in his father's ideas. He had, of course, some boyish fears, but they were working on them. Martha handled the charities and the household as Thomas worked more and more for his family. On their 11th wedding anniversary, Martha suggested they all went out. Thomas found the idea wonderful, since Bruce was already turning 10 and he figured some theatrical plays would do him good. And so, they booked three tickets to a play and then a table at the couple's favorite Italian restaurant.

Thomas wasn't aware that the play would have all sorts of visual 'effects' going around to enhance its storyline. He knew it had something to do with taking a different approach to some traditional fairytales, but the play was truly extravagant. At least for the couple.

Thomas soon noticed that as the take on Snow White was progressing, Bruce was getting more and more uncomfortable. The heroine, chased by the hunter, had entered the dark woods to save herself and the gloomy background and effects scared Bruce, especially when some artificial bats emerged from the ceiling. The boy had feared the bats ever since he had the misfortune of opening a door to a cellar of the mansion and being ambushed by a huge swarm of the small mammals.

Thomas and Martha, not wanting their son to feel scared, decided to leave the play and head for the restaurant instead. Normally they would leave through the main door, where their car and their security guards awaited, but since they didn't want to interrupt the play, they decided to use the emergency exit.

The rusty door led to a back alley, filled with dumpsters and leaky pipes. Martha put her hand over Bruce's shoulders and they walked towards the more crowded avenue by the end of the alley. Just a few meters farther, a slender figure emerged from behind a dumpster. Thomas noticed how the figure-a man, he guessed- let a syringe drop to the ground and approached. Through the dim light, they saw that he was indeed a man, dressed in dirty clothes, and he was swinging a gun at them, smiling for some reason.

"Quite a catch for me t'night, eh?" He mumbled. "Ya sure seem rich, brother. Mind given' me that fat wallet of yours?"

Thomas reached for his wallet and threw it at his feet. "Please let us go."

"Why so hasty? I ain't done just yet. Gimme your watch. And you lady. These shin-ey pearls." He approached the gun to Martha.

"No, stay away!" Thomas called once again, stepping closer to Martha and taking his watch off. "Take them and go! Please!"

The man started laughing manically and Thomas felt completely terrified and useless, not being able to help his family. He took a look at the pale faces of his wife and his son. Martha's hands were trembling as she tried to remove her necklace.

"Faster, lady!" He shouted and pushed the canister on Martha's chest.

Thomas, as Diana could feel, was enraged like a bull in a rodeo. Everything he held dear was being threatened and he could stay silent no more. In a heap of adrenaline, he slammed the forearm of the mugger and fell on him, pushing him to the wall. Thomas tried taking the gun from his hands but the man was incredibly strong for his physique and fought back, elbowing Thomas' face first and then kicking him to the ground.

Thomas felt the muddy water splash on his face and his clothes as he fell down. Quickly, he turned around but it was too late. The deafening sound of the gun echoed in the alley, as he felt a piercing pain in his abdomen and he struggled to breathe. Everything seemed to be running in slow motion after that. Martha ran to him screaming, but the mugger shot her straight through the heart and she fell to her knees and then face-down. Thomas' eyesight became blurrier as his eyes were fixed on his little boy, standing there frozen in terror. The mugger, in shock as well, threw the gun down and fled. Bruce, wide-eyed, ran to Thomas shouting 'Dad!', and that was the last thing Thomas saw and heard, as he passed away, feeling sorry for himself. He couldn't help his own family, he couldn't see his son grow, he couldn't do anything. What would become of Bruce, was the last thought that went through his head and Thomas' memories came to an end.

Diana had subconsciously brought her hand to her mouth by the time she stopped travelling through Thomas Wayne's memories. She didn't know for how long she had been crying but her eyes were hurting and would probably be red as well.

She knew the story more or less, from Bruce. But seeing it like this was something completely different. No wonder Bruce never felt comfortable enough talking about this in particular, not even when they have had countless of other meaningful talks throughout the years. Diana hated to think that he probably felt responsible in a way. If he hadn't been afraid, they wouldn't have exited the theatre. They would probably still be alive. And oh, the toll such thoughts must have taken on a young mind.

It did explain a lot of things; the costume, the drive to beat criminality and cleanse Gotham, his brooding nature. But he deserved to be happy. It wasn't his fault, he couldn't have saved them. Sometimes bad things happen to good people and good things to bad people. That was life and there was nothing they could do to change that.

Diana wiped her eyes and took a last look at Thomas' lingering soul. It seemed as if it looked at her, right at her. Diana averted her eyes, but brought them back, noticing how just a small distance behind, Martha's soul floated, in the exact clothes that Diana had seen her wear at the theatre in Thomas' memories. She didn't have the will to take a look at her memories now. It would be too much.

She span on her heels, turning around to leave and go study some more, but something kept her from taking a step. She felt that something; something weird, something that seemed to _connect_ her with the Realm.

She turned back towards the souls and took a good look inside. Thomas' soul had moved only a little bit, with Martha always close by. She felt her hands tingling, like a small electric current going thr0ugh the rest of her body as well, and making the hairs on the back of her neck rise. Instinctively, she stretched her hand out and locked on Thomas. The soul froze in place and turned to the entrance, floating closer and closer, obeying Diana's mental call to him.

Diana watched in awe as the soul obediently came to her. She could feel like a puppet master; she could _make_ the soul do whatever she pleased, it _belonged_ to her, and it was scary.

Thomas approached and Diana made a huge effort not to break her concentration on his calling. The soul stretched out a hand and slowly slid through the thin veil that separated the Realm and the Underworld. Diana realized how much more difficult it became to keep the soul approaching once it was through and let it all go, breathing heavily once it was over. The soul returned to the Realm and kept floating like all the others.

Diana smiled widely, wiping some sweat drops from her forehead. She had actually manipulated a soul. It was possible! It wasn't just Hades. She could do it. It was hard and it took a lot of effort, but it was possible. And she would practise. If need be, she would practise all the time until she could reach her father's power level. The souls possessed immense energy, she could feel it. And she would use it.

But maybe it was time to consult with Haros on a few matters first.

 ***A new chapter opens up for Diana's powers! I am excited to start writing about this and coming closer to a solid endgame idea. Thank you so much for reading, please do leave a review!***


	6. 6 - Unplanned Discoveries

***Greetings, dear readers, and welcome to another chapter of this fic. Thank you for reading, once again.**

 **I know this has taken quite a lot of time for me to update but my life leaves me very few opportunities to write and I need to find inspiration to keep this going. Good thing is, I've been coming up with some nice ideas! ^^**

 **Anyhow, thank you all and I'll…see you at the end of the chapter."**

 **CHAPTER SIX – UNPLANNED DISCOVERIES**

Diana rubbed her hands together as she approached one of the Haros near the 'library'.

"Haros, I need your help with something."

"Did you come up with an idea?" Haros asked and Diana thought she sensed a hint of worry in it.

"No, unfortunately I didn't. It's something else."

"Do tell me, then."

"Walk with me." Diana said and Haros started floating by her side as she strolled towards Acheron. "You remember how my comrade commited s-"

"Yes, the one that was brought back. I remember. It wasn't that long ago, I can remember everyone I've accompanied here."

Diana raised an eyebrow. "That is interesting."

"Do not forget, Princess. I am not a human entity. My memory doesn't succumb to the effects of aging."

"Yes, yes. So. I'm afraid, as I told you before, that someone else might try to copy my teammate's idea. And since I'm not always around the…entrance, I need to know if someone comes."

"You want me to notify you, then."

"Yes. Do you know how we can do this?"

"I suppose you could describe them to me, but I doubt that should be enough. There are countless of people that resemble each other coming through each moment."

"Yes, that is what I thought too…"

"You could design them, if you wish."

Diana smiled awkwardly. "I'm afraid my drawing skills are worse than stick figures."

"Well, that leaves sketches out of the question then."

Diana huffed in disappointment and sat down, as they had reached the 'shore'. Haros hesitated for a moment but joined her. She placed her elbows and her knees and let her head low.

Haros didn't know if it was feeling awkward by this display of…sadness, so unfamiliar to him, so foreign, so unlike Hades, or if it was feeling actually sorry for her. She was a creature so full of the…gift of life, so exuberant, and yet she was contained in such a grim place. For Haros, it was the only thing it had ever known, so it couldn't really tell what was missing for Diana, only that it was taking a toll on her. To be honest, she was trying, and she was doing an okay job around there, considering how much she disliked her condition. And Haros would be lying to himself if it denied the fact that it was starting to like her in a way.

It was the first time in a good, long while since it last experienced a different sentiment. And ever since she came, the Underworld for Haros had been full of surprises. From her whimsical attempts to 'awaken its free will', to her worrying for her friends and her…everything, really. She was truly something else.

"We only have descriptions, then." Haros said, trying to encourage her a bit.

Diana lifted her head and placed her palm on her forehead. "Ugh, I don't know. You said so yourself, they will be too vague."

"Try your best to make them detailed, then. And if I see someone that resembles your description, I shall notify you at once and you can verify it yourself."

"Fine…" She paused for a moment, took a breath, and began. "The first one should be…the bulkiest guy you'd ever see. Tall, with a chest large enough to land an airplane. Black hair with a small curl in front, small, beady eyes, huge jaw, perfect, straight teeth. He might be wearing a uniform with a big 'S' in front or…black, square glasses and some other clothes, I guess. Is this good enough?"

"I…can work with this."

Diana nodded and sighed. "This is so bad." She said, laughing a bit. "We'll never get it right."

"But it's a start."

Diana turned to it. "Haros, please, do try! This is very important!" Subconsciously, she touched its arm, trying to emphasize her words.

She realized that this was a gesture she had never made before. And the moment she actually touched its cold, bony hand, she sensed something like a small electric current go through her body. She saw how Haros' eye sockets, that were usually pitch-black, shone brightly and instantly, she felt like Haros was permeable, much like a soul was. Inside her own head, she could see every single image that Haros' siblings were seeing at that moment; souls, empty boats, Realms, the throne room. She focused her eyesight again and saw Haros' stunned face once again, and let go of its arm. The sockets turned dark instantly.

"Haros…did you see what I saw?"

"I…I saw…that you saw what I see…and then I saw…myself."

"So you saw…basically what I did."

"I suppose so."

"How did Hades use this ability of yours?"

"Excuse me?"

"What, didn't you know you could do this before?"

"Master Hades has never physically touched me. I was created to do a specific number of actions down here, and to assist him. There was never a need for him to touch me."

"Well, then, this is a loophole in your creation I think. Because you were made by Hades, and I am his daughter, immediately connected to him –unfortunately- and so I can activate it too. And, yes, since you are his creation, it makes sense for him to somehow be able to control your whole being and see what you see at each given moment. Now we found out how."

"It sure is eventful down here, recently." Haros commented, shrugging lightly.

"But wait. As we saw, I could see what you did, but it went the other way too. You saw yourself through my eyes!" Diana smiled widely.

"Why are you being so enthusiastic about this?"

"Hera hasn't forsaken me yet! This couldn't have come at a more suitable moment! Here, give me your hand!"

Haros reluctantly approached its hand and Diana caught it in her palms. Once more, its eye sockets shone and Diana's mind was flooded with images of Haros' vision. She closed her eyes and discarded all those images, bringing forth a memory from Superman in all his glory. She tried focusing on his features and his physique and when she was ready, she let go of Haros' hand.

"Did you see the man?"

"As a matter of fact, I did. It does resemble your description."

Diana exhaled in relief. "I'm so glad! Come on now, there's the whole League you need to see!"

She caught its hand again and went through every Leaguer's face, trying to focus on as many details as she could remember. Some, she could recall a blurry image of, but it was enough for her to try. Somewhere along the way, she felt her chest ache strongly; she missed them all so much, she missed her life so much it hurt. And she couldn't focus on their memories any more, as other memories, like her first movie night with Bruce, or the small bickerings with Shayera and Flash's first attempts to hit on her started flooding her brain and soon her eyes were flooding too, and she let go.

"I'm sorry." She said, hastily wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "I don't know why I'm getting so sensitive lately."

Haros honestly felt like…hugging her for some reason, and that confused it to no extent. It didn't go for it, of course. It wasn't built for impulses. "It is fine, Princess." It said simply. "I will keep your memories on my mind and be sure, I will notify you as soon as one of your friends happens to step on my boats."

Diana nodded. "Thank you so much."

Haros stood up, took a small bow and left.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

When Bruce managed to pick himself up, he was aching all over his back. He had really hit the stone wall with great force and if he was correct, more than one of his ribs must have been fractured.

He slowly made his way outside, cringing every time the pathway narrowed and he had to push his back to fit. When he was finally out, he gasped for air and fell to his knees at the pain on his back, growling.

He heard the rustling of leaves nearby and raised his head to see Zatanna and Green Lantern approach.

"What on Earth is going on?" Green Lantern asked, helping Bruce up. "And what the hell are you doing here?"

"Seriously." Zatanna added, shaking her head.

"I bumped into Hades." Batman said, pressing on his ribs.

"What?!" Zatanna exclaimed, shooting her eyebrows up. "How?"

"Coincidentally. I found him inside this chasm." He pointed towards the slim opening on the mountain side.

"What was he doing?" Green Lantern asked, lighting the entrance with his ring.

"Nothing in particular. Nothing that I could tell, at least. It was dark and I mostly made my way through thermal scanner. This path leads to a slightly wider…chamber of sorts. He was humming to himself."

Zatanna chuckled. "Humming to himself… And how did you get like that?"

"He attacked." Green Lantern said and Bruce nodded.

"You attacked Hades on your own? We can't hold him down like mere mortals!"

"I had to do something. I used your talisman."

"Oh, you still have it. Clever. Did it work?"

"Yes, it did phase him, though it didn't last long. He got away."

"Yeah, we can tell that much." Green Lantern said, coming out of the chasm. "There's nothing inside."

"Still, there must have been a reason he came here…" Zatanna pondered, rubbing her chin.

"Maybe he just needed a place to stay secluded. I don't know, maybe if a whole group of super-powered humans and magicians were after you, _maybe_ you'd be looking for somewhere to hide." Green Lantern replied sarcastically.

"But Hades is not the one to hide." Zatanna said.

"He's still unable to attack, though." Batman told them. "Zeus' condition still affects him. Therefore, we need to act quickly. We know he's planning something, something big enough to grant him power to stay outside disobeying that order."

"Alright then. Green Lantern, take Batman back. I will stay here to check a few…magical things and I'll report back in a bit."

Green Lantern nodded. "Let's get you patched up, you, god-defying man."

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Diana stood upright in front of the Lingering Realm and took a deep breath. Thomas' soul was right on the other side, 'looking' at her.

She had found out that when she 'knew' a soul, she could actually 'summon' it closer to her. When she had arrived, she couldn't see Thomas, but upon thinking of him, she saw the soul glide eerily towards the Gate and float in front of her. It made her happy, for a reason.

As she had done not a long time ago, she stretched her hand out and focused on Thomas and their 'connection', trying to draw him closer. The soul obeyed once again, and Diana readied herself for bringing it out of the Realm.

As soon as the soul slid through the thin veil, she could feel the difficulty of her attempt rising significantly, but steadily, she kept going. Thomas was finally out of the Realm.

Diana could already feel the sweat drops forming, but she had had worse. She hadn't been training her whole life, to be discouraged by some sweat on her forehead. This was just another kind of training. She inhaled deeply and commanded Thomas' soul to start making circles around, testing if it could actually work.

With a small shake of her hand, the soul moved like a marionette indeed, going round and round. The more it remained outside though, the more exhausted she felt, but she persevered. She had to.

The soul, she realized, didn't feel exactly like a doll, or a material being, but rather like a concentrated energy source, drawing its 'life' from the person that once was and its memories. She wondered if she could harvest that energy in a way, if she practised hard enough, but decided to contain her 'lesson' to solely guiding and controlling the soul outside the Realm for the time being. Moving her hand slightly upwards, she tried to send it up, high above and she was glad to see it moving towards where she wanted.

But it was too tiring for now. The soul had only flown a few meters –maybe more, maybe less, Diana had lost any sense of space and time the moment she stepped her foot in the Underworld- but she lost her concentration and closed her eyes panting heavily. 'Thomas' quickly retreated back to the Realm.

It had gone better than the last time and once she caught her breath, she would keep practising. This was crucial. Not to mention entertaining; it was the only thing Diana could find vaguely interesting in there.

She walked up to the Resting Realm once again and sat by the rift that was its entrance. She liked how silent the souls there seemed to be, something like calm waves, or a soft lullaby. She couldn't really translate the vibes she was receiving as any sensory stimulus; it felt different. Wanting to pacify herself before attempting another soul round, she decided to delve into a Resting one, as she liked the stories they had to tell.

But which one? She asked herself. Most of them seemed quite elderly; truly, it made sense for them to be their happiest by the end of their lives, having gathered experiences, made families, fulfilled their goals or having come to terms with what life had thrown their way. She wanted something else now, and so she 'scanned' the crowd, looking for something more intriguing.

And upon finding it, she wondered how many more surprises this place could hold for her, and how come she hadn't thought of it earlier.

There, following its endless path, she spotted the very familiar face of Steve Trevors, having its usual smirk, though his once penetrative look was now, of course, rather glassy since it was, well, merely his remnant she was seeing. Her heart paced up and she smiled widely; she felt so happy and so relieved to find him in this Realm. He deserved it, she thought.

Before she brought her eyes to take a look into his memories, she noticed how the soul kept approaching the rift, maybe answering a subconscious call of hers. But it was weird, Diana thought. It was the first time she actually felt the Resting ones react to her. Yes, they were always…friendly, but never reacting. The Damned and the Lingering were all much more active, especially the Damned ones; she could feel them shouting and aching and begging her to come to them every time she happened to pass from their entrance, and that is why she now avoided it. But this was a first.

She was unsure of whether she wanted to see what his life was or not. His happiest form seemed to be some years older than when they first met and so she guessed he had reached his peak; maybe married, maybe did something great, who knew. Well, she could know, she thought, but decided against it in the end. She didn't want to right now, maybe at some other point.

By the time she made her decision, Steve was floating just across the other side of the veil separating the Underworld and the Realm. Diana timidly, maybe a bit absentmindedly too, brought her hand closer, as if to touch him and laughed at herself, at how silly she was. She took a step back and thought that maybe, just maybe, Steve would act like Thomas; perhaps his soul could obey as well.

She stretched her hand out, focused on Steve and _called_. Steve stayed there, on the other side, but couldn't come closer. Diana focused intensely and tried harder, but in vain. It just wouldn't bulge. She put her hand out and shrugged. She should focus and what she could handle for now, and not get too ambitious. She was just beginning to handle one soul, unlike the myriads her 'Pops' could with a lone movement of his finger.

She sighed.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Zatanna hated the smell of dust. She didn't know for how long that room had been left unopened, but she was sure to order a full clean-up once she had the time.

Ever since they found Bruce in Olympus, a strange idea had popped up in her head. Not an idea exactly, but maybe a piece of knowledge or information she once possessed that was relevant to the place, but she couldn't exactly recall it. Maybe it was a pointless trivia for the mountain and its Gods, but maybe it was something important, and so she had to look into it.

She remembered reading something in this room exactly, when she was only a child, making her first, shy steps into the magic world by the guidance of her father. Their cottage was a large house, with a basement large enough to compare with a spacious condo, and good, old Zachary Zatara had made sure to fill it with every book, manuscript, artifact and curiosity he could get his hands on, saying it might come in handy someday. For Zatana, visiting that room was like a treasure hunt when she was little, but as she grew older, she realized that most of the things in there were useless and most of the books outdated. Not even her father bothered with that room after some point, and so it had been years since anyone had stepped foot in there.

She opened up every window, turned on every lamp and placed herself in the middle of the room. "Supmylo em gnirb!*" She called loudly and she heard the rustling of old pages being turned around. In just a minute, several books had been transported to her feet. She smiled; it had been such a long time since she had used this simple spell her father had taught her for easy searches in libraries.

"Enough with the nostalgia." She mumbled to herself. "Get to work." She picked the first book up. _Percy Jackson and the Heroes of Olympus_ , it wrote. She rolled her eyes. "Definitely not this one."

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Luckily Bruce's wounds weren't severe, and once again, his stay at the League's ward had been short. He wondered if those recurrent visits and admissions should start to worry him, but discarded the thought; his priorities were clear.

He finished zipping his boots up and made sure his mask and cape were safely in place before leaving. Just as he was ready to walk away, the door slid open and in came Zatanna, holding what seemed to be a very old, almost ancient tome in her hands.

"I think I might be on to something!" She blurred out quickly, betraying her haste and maybe the importance of her discovery.

"Speak." Bruce said and with a few long strides she was by his side, opening up the book on the hospital bed. She turned it to a page with a map of the world, slightly distorted. Some purple lines were connecting random spots around the continents.

"Well, can't expect those ancient ones to make an actual map of the world now, do you?" She asked, looking how he observed the map.

"What am I seeing?"

"A very, very old book, that is only so well preserved up to this day because my father is such a hoarder. And this, specifically, is a depiction of a very, very old as well, magical theory."

"Elaborate."

"Yes, I was getting there. So. When we found you in Olympus, my mind gears starting running. For some reason, the image of Themyscira's and Olympus' positions on the map of Greece popped up in my head and I was sure I had seen a relation between those two somewhere. I searched and found this map and the theory behind it, that I must have once read when I was little, I think because of my 'history of magic' lessons."

"Go on."

"So, in the old days, people tried to explain the origins of magic. Some said God, some said the stars, some said our family heritage and so forth. The Assyrians came up with this idea, which was widely spread many millennia ago, that magic is diffused in our world, but there are actually magic sources, like…wells, imagine, in specific places around the world, and there are magical flow lines, that connect those places and create a network of lines around the earth. According to that theory, those places have very strong magic, and the magic that is diffused around the world, comes from them; they release the magic around. Now, of course you understand why many found it stupid and rightfully so."

"But?"

"…But, on this map of those lines, we see that Olympus is connected to this spot here. It might seem like a random spot in the Aegean-"

"-but it's where Themyscira actually is."

"Exactly. If we take a closer look, we also see Delphi is another spot, Rome, Ismir, New York, Harlem, the Fijis, all those places that are known for their magical activity and witches and wizards that come from there. It might be a coincidence, but it might be not."

"So maybe Hades going there wasn't so random after all."

"It might be that. I need to look into it more, however, because this is a wild idea and it might put us off track."

"Alright. I will continue as usual till you get us some more proof or input on this one."

"Yes. I am starting my research first thing in the morning."

Bruce nodded and headed for the exit. Right before the door, he turned around and said "Good job," before leaving.

Zatanna half-smiled, picked up the book and retreated to her chamber.

 **** *Zatanna is saying "Bring me Olympus" in reverse. Many of her spells are just phrases backwards, so this was just a small spell I came up with on my own, obviously.**

 **So, I promise more and bigger soul action for Diana in the next chapter. She can't of course develop another super power in the span of two days. She needs to explore and practise. I hope you like where this is going and I'll see you all, hopefully faster than I did this time, on the next chapter. Thank you for reading, please give me some feedback! ***


	7. 7 - Deeper knowledge, better practice

***** **Hello dear readers! Thank you for following this fanfic up to this point. I know this is the longest I've ever taken with a fanfic but I want to do a decent work with the proper inspiration, which seems to be quite lazy lately. Anyway, thank you for your support and I'll see you again at the end!***

 **CHAPTER SEVEN – DEEPER KNOWLEDGE, BETTER PRACTICE**

Diana was quick in applying Haros' new ability in their 'everyday activities'; since she was determined to get its help into classifying the souls that were coming through, it would be a waste of time –whatever time they were having down there- to narrate every soul's life story. Therefore, she held Haros' hand into her own and mentally pushing its visions away, focused into the memories at hand. This way, Haros could see what she was seeing and help her better. She was happy with that new idea.

After they were done with that chore, Diana figured she was mentally ready to go see Steve again. She truly was curious about his life and his memories. Maybe it was a bit…unethical to go snooping around into the head of someone she once knew, but, well, he was dead. And Diana had a weird feeling, like Steve's soul was actually wanting her to 'visit'. She shrugged the second thoughts away and went to the Realms.

Standing in front of the luminous Resting Realm, she focused her thoughts on Trevor, sensing the thousands of souls calmly drifting around. When she 'spotted' the soul's energy, she summoned it and in some short moments, it was floating right across her.

"Hey, Steve." Diana mumbled, slightly smiling. The soul's glossy eyes were hardly reminiscent of his once-vivid look. In just a moment, she took a trip into his life memories.

Nice childhood; average nuclear family, comfortable house, middle class comforts and restrictions. He was a social and joyful boy. Academically promising too; good grades, an inclination towards science as well. His parents meant him for college, but Steve knew that that wasn't for him. His spirit was restless and a life behind lab walls seemed like a prison for him, no matter how he may have liked the subject he would be studying. Soon, his mind was made up and Diana could feel how truly passionate he was about his new goal.

Steve worked out and studied harder than ever and made it into the American Army Air Force. In his memories, the training camp was seen as a happy period, disregarding the countless hours of endless training, the 'traditional' abuse of the higher ranking officers and the exhaustion that accompanied every day and every night. Steve felt like he belonged and, flash forward, he was made into an intelligence officer for the Air Force.

The War started and the orders were coming in daily. He was a devoted soldier with an outstanding performance, and so he was entrusted with an espionage mission during what was an alternated version of World War II, during which the immortal Vandal Savage had used equipment from the future to turn things around and gain control. Diana remembered clearly how they had met under those circumstances.

Through Steve's eyes, she saw that day; Steve was trying to run away, stealing an Axis plane. Diana had saved him from crashing to the ground. She saw the first time he looked at her and could feel the surprise and the excitement within him. Subconsciously, she laughed. They only spent about a day together, trying to get that stolen communicator to work, but it was enough for them to realize the mutual attraction. That impulsive moment when he had kissed her was vividly engraved in his memories and Diana could still feel her cheeks blushing, even now.

The mission was a success. History as they knew it had been saved and Diana went back to the future. Steve was awarded several medals for his services and went back to work after the War. He still missed her, but life was working okay for him. One day, he met an interesting young nurse working at a military camp; she was short and cute, with long, black hair tucked into a bun and clever green eyes. The way she retorted his teases when they first met intrigued him; he realized that maybe he had a type in women after all.

Not long afterwards, the nurse turned into Mrs. Molly Trevor and Steve was thrilled with his new life. Day in, day out, he worked and came home to his wife and wanted nothing more. Diana could feel how those early marriage years were engraved into his memory; uneventful, but happy to their full extent.

Several years later, Molly finally became pregnant. Steve's feelings at first were mixed; he was happy, but anxious, thinking that he may not be suitable for a father. The moment his firstborn son came to world shoved all those thoughts away as Steve was the proudest he had ever been. They had two other children too; another son and at last a daughter, whom Steve loved a little more fondly and, to Diana's surprise, she was named Diana. Her hair was black, her eyes were blue and she couldn't stay put at a place.

The years went by as the children started to pave their own paths. Unfortunately, his life was not spared from tragedies though; Molly died of cancer soon after their last child turned eighteen and some years later, their second son was killed in a car crash. Steve preserved with military discipline at those hardships; he remained as strong as possible, so as to keep his other children strong too. He was familiar with loss; so many years at the battlefield teach a man to cope with such things, but those two losses were harder, of course. He cried at night, and he cried a lot. He was only glad that no one was around to hear him; his son was in the Army now, deployed to another State and his daughter at college.

But Steve was getting old as the years went by. His once firm body didn't have the prowess it used to. His eyes and ears failed him most of the time and he climbed the staircase in more minutes than he would ever admit. Common sense and his children's persuasion lead him to a nursing home. He truly detested it; he felt weak and pathetic, but he had to stay here in order to survive. And he still had some life left in him.

One evening that was 'highlighted' in his memory, he was paid a visit by none other than his 'Angel' and Steve was so happy to see Diana young and alive and well. They didn't say much that night. They sat together and watched the sunset, hand in hand, but it was enough. The following weeks, Steve was a changed man; he felt stronger. He felt…better. He thought a lot about his life; his choices, his mistakes, his family. And he came to terms with it; Diana could feel how it all settled down within him. He was content with his life. A few days later, he was found dead on his bed, with maybe a small grin on his face.

Considering how Diana was getting more and more sensitive while she stayed there, she was surprised at herself at how she hadn't even shed a single tear. But why would she, in the end? Her beloved Steve had lived a normal life which suited him best. He had children that loved him and he had made his impact on the world in the best way possible. No wonder she hadn't found him in the Lingering Realm.

"It's good to see you here, Steve." She said smiling, turned and moved to the next Realm for her tactical practice.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

"Well, I'll be damned…" Zatanna mumbled as she kept scrolling down the Google search page. She had forgotten at which number of search keyword she was now, since her research had led her down peculiar paths in the web. She was however, on to something.

She clicked a link to a 'Know Your Necro' blog and found some archive photos which seemed quite interesting. Losing no time, she dialed the number listed on the blog and waited.

"Mm, yes?" A sleepy voice picked up.

"Hello. I found your blog online and I was wondering if the archives you present are available to…the crowd."

"Oh, the blog, yes." The man, he didn't sound more than 25, seemed to wake up a bit. "Why are you interested? This isn't another one of those wacky journalists trying to write some 'edgy' new clickbait article, is it?"

"What? No. I'm just doing some…research on this magic genre chronicles, yes. Can I or can I not take a look at them?"

"Look, lady, those manuscripts and pictures are my family's legacy. I, I don't know if I can randomly let people see them."

Zatanna rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, I understand. Why don't we meet up so you can…describe them for me or something?"

"Oh, um, yeah, sure. I guess I can do that."

"Date and place." Zatanna urged, rubbing her hands. Putting that boy under a spell to take a look at them herself would be a piece of cake.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

'Playing' with Thomas was getting easier every session. Her control over the soul was significantly better, and the time of her ability's duration as well. She was content.

As she tried to condense the soul into pure energy –a wild idea, she knew, she noticed that Martha's soul seemed to be waiting by the Realm's opening. Come to think of it, Diana seemed to see Martha's soul close to Thomas' very often. Of course this wasn't a coincidence. Souls that shared a good lifetime together would probably long to remain together in the afterlife as well; plus they died together so it seemed all the more rational, if anything could be described as rational down there.

Martha's soul always seemed to have a distraught look on it; Diana didn't expect it to be grinning, but it always seemed more miserable than Thomas'; maybe it was just how Martha was. And then Diana came up with a different idea.

Holding Thomas' soul out and close to her, she turned her attention towards Martha and stretched her hand out, calling for her soul to join them out. Without much effort, Martha's soul gracefully glided through the thin veil that kept the souls inside the Realm and floated towards them. Diana noticed that the effort she needed to keep the second soul out was only a fraction of what she needed to keep Thomas' out at first. In fact, it was only just a little bit more demanding.

Grinning to herself, she brought the souls close to each other, then sent them flying up, doing spirals one around the other. She figured it would be quite a nice show she was putting on.

Feeling quite energized with this new 'discovery' of hers, she decided to take it just one step further. She brought the souls by her side, just floating calmly, and turned to the Realm once again. The first soul she laid eyes on, she called. It was a young woman that Diana saw for the first time. She called for her soul.

The soul slowly went through the veil, but Diana noticed it was very, very hard. Just like when she first tried to summon Thomas' out. She felt some sweat drops from on the sides of her forehead but she tried her best to keep the couple out and the third soul coming towards them. When it was finally fully out, Diana could only keep it for a very short while before feeling worn out and sending all three of them back.

She exhaled sharply and then inhaled deeply.

"Princess." She heard Haros say, with a voice colored with surprise, as it approached. "Were you just-"

"Controlling souls? Yes I was." She replied, proud of herself. Haros was the one having said that she didn't possess that power, but turns out it was wrong.

"I believed that ability was Hades' alone."

"Yes, I remember. But I suppose genes go beyond black hair."

"But it seems Hades believed it was his ability alone too. That was why I was adamant you didn't have such capabilities when you first joined us."

"He was wrong, as he is wrong in believing his plan will eventually succeed. I'm sure the League is coming up with a plan to capture him as we speak, Haros."

"We shall see. Now, I am quite impressed. Those were three souls, were they not?"

"Yes indeed. It's my first time doing three. Well, it's my first time doing over one in general. I've just fooled around with one so far."

"It is a hard thing to do, certainly. It's safe to assume you were familiar with the first soul, right?"

"Yes, in a way. I'm more familiar with the man's son, really. How did you know?"

"Soul connections are powerful, Princess. And you being human or half-human-"

"Half-Amazon."

"Half-not God anyway, means those connections will be even more meaningful for you I suppose, since you can't fully call on your divine nature and will need to use them to control the souls."

Diana shrugged. "If you say so. But since you know so much about this, Haros, answer me this. I managed to call on the second soul with ease, but struggled with the third. Was it because I bit more than I could chew, or because the second soul was in a way connected to the first?"

"Because of the connection. I see you have experienced the 'soul synergy' phenomenon."

"Oh, do tell me more about this."

"It is what the words say it is. Souls combining, cooperating with each other. When two or more souls share some sort of connection, they tend to stay together or they're drawn to each other. Therefore, you bringing two or more connected souls together out is easier, since their tendency to stick to each other helps you out."

"Well, this is interesting. Not to mention useful."

"Of course it is. Hades made constant use of this phenomenon as well."

"Did he, now?"

"Well, yes. When he needed to call out on a big number of souls-soldiers, he would draw whole battalions out; people that lived and fought together, and therefore being connected to each other. It saved him a lot of energy, at least in his early years. I don't believe he needs it now but it sure does help."

Diana arched an eyebrow. "Haros, you are a treasure. You know a lot, you can definitely help me advance."

"Anything for my new master." It said and Diana felt like Haros was kind of…happy for some reason. "How come you didn't mention you could do this earlier?"

She shrugged. "I don't think it was relevant to you in any way. But it seems like it is." Haros remained silent. "Say, Haros, do you think that if I connect with a soul now, through its memories, I can summon it out more easily then?"

"For sure. That's the way to connect with a soul. It doesn't have anything left but memories, so you sharing them means sharing the soul's entire being. I would still advice against it, though."

"I see…" Diana said, thinking she had just struck gold.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

"Alright, alright, alright…" Zatanna mumbled, taking photos of everything inside the man's basement. His family definitely had an interesting stock of necromancy-related books, documents and memorabilia, but only a small fragment of those were legit or with any importance whatsoever. They were enough for Zatanna to prove her point, however.

She speed-dialed a number and after two short rings, the image of Batman in the Bat Cave popped up on her screen.

"Heeeey!" She greeted, turning her own video image on as well. "I have news."

"Speak."

"So, after countless of hours of online search, and archive digging, I finally got to the truth. I am in the basement of a man whose family says they come from a long line of necromancers. He doesn't possess any magical ability, but the things they have sure are interesting."

"You broke in?"

"No, he's just under a mindhaze spell, sitting on his couch upstairs. Will bring him back once I'm done."

"Go on."

"So, um, yes. We talked about the lines on the map and how they connected to points of magical interest. Well, upon intense research, it turns out that those spots once only held interest for necromancers and death-related magicians. The rest of the magical community thought there was something special at those places for the necros to go, and so they started moving to those areas. Turned out, they weren't any special for them at all, but since they all gathered there, magical activity was bound to flourish."

"So they afterwards magical spurges were just…coincidental?"

"In a way. Necros perished many, many centuries ago since their 'magic' was all mumbo-jumbo and hardly ever effective. I told you, the dead ones are useless for divinations and a crappy resource of other magic rituals. They once were better but nowadays not quite so."

"So the lead was false?"

"No, it's just more specific. By studying this man's family line, which had indeed some so-called necromancers, I verified the theory that the spots on the map were necromancy-specific so they definitely hold some significance for our case. And, I found a nice…story."

"Nice, or important?"

"Important to us I guess. This family is apparently very proud of being allegedly related to Thradulus, a well-known death magician. Now, don't confuse regular, puny necromancers with death magicians. Unlike what most people think, necromancers tried to do divination and small rituals that were all quite fake; none of them ever 'used' the dead, it was all plain, old, regular magic. Death magicians however, were something else, although they are also mistakenly referred to as necromancers. They were very, very few and that was because it was a particularly challenging and 'evil' magic genre. It consumed you if you weren't very skilled and was unstable. Not to mention that back in the day, trying to meddle with Hades' turf got you into big trouble."

"Yes, I see. So this Thradulus guy concerns us because…?"

"Look, his magic, according to these accounts here, was fearsome, but he only ever managed to harvest enough death energy to do so twice per year. People thought it was because he needed to prepare but we know better. Thradulus' magical activity always happened at some point before the fall, and after the winter, as spring began."

"Every six months then?"

"Yes, but that's not it. Pay attention to the seasons. Thradulus'spells happened around the times of Percephoni's journeys. Mythology 101."

"Demeter's daughter, his wife."

"Yes indeed. Demeter had her during spring and summer, when she was happy and the Earth bloomed, and Hades had her during fall and winter, when Demeter was miserable and everything withered. Now, I believe, that during Percephoni's journeys, Hades, I don't know, got careless with his souls and somehow Thradulus found a way to get to them."

"Then there's a way for us to approach the Underworld when he's careless."

"Well, don't forget that he isn't the one in charge now. Diana's down there and she doesn't have something to distract her. Whatever it is that caused Thradulus' activity, ceased after Hades was locked down there for good and Percephoni didn't return again."

"Well this story doesn't teach us a lot. We can't use anything."

"Yes we can. We can use the dead."

"Come again."

Zatanna grinned. "Listen. I know it's crazy, but desperate times call for desperate measures. Here's what I think; those places may be the places somehow connected to the Underworld, maybe it's from where the souls travel down, or I don't know. But if the person guarding the souls gets distracted or omits to do something to keep the souls down, we can get some of that energy."

"You said death magic is-"

"I know what I said. I don't like it, I despise it. But if I can train myself, and train my father and the rest of the magicians, maybe we can get to that energy and keep it somehow. Slowly but steadily, we'll gather some serious magical power, Batman. This will either help us get Hades out of where he's hiding, or at least he'll notice that something is off and make a move. Either way, we get something. Besides, death magic might be effective against Hades come to think of it. He wouldn't get so upset back in the day if he didn't feel threatened by the soul harvesters, but he beat them because he had more power –more souls under his possession."

"That is…right, I suppose."

"The thing is; how do we get Diana to see this, to help us. She needs to find what it is and do it. After that is done, we'll be ready. We'll have a wizard or a witch stationed in each of the map points, waiting for some activity to occur. Then we capture whatever comes out –I'll figure a way if I study about it, I believe- and start gathering the power."

"We did try to communicate with her but it didn't work."

"How?"

"…Controlled Suicide."

Zatanna rolled her eyes. "I should have known you would attempt something like that. I mean, you didn't hesitate to sing jazz in front of other people to save her from being Wonder Pig for the rest of her life, and if that didn't feel like dying to you, I don't know what does." She chuckled, remembering that night.

"Back to the point, it didn't work."

"Didn't you feel anything?" Zatanna asked, knowing for sure that he had been the one to do it.

"No. Nothing other than…regrets for some mistakes I guess."

She frowned. "That's not good. But I doubt Diana would ever let your soul like that. She must have…done something, that maybe you just didn't notice, because you're…a mere human."

"Either way, we don't know if she can see us, let alone receive a message as specific as this."

"But maybe it's worth a shot! I am willing to do it. Just once, of course, but I am. I don't see us having any other choice as it is."

"We'll discuss about this at the summit tomorrow, then. Good job."

"I know! I'll go thaw the poor soul upstairs and leave. We'll talk to tomorrow, but give it some thought. It might work!"

Bruce nodded and hang up. This was too crazy but again…what wasn't now?

 ***I'm coming up with many new ideas as this fic goes on. I hope you liked this chapter and more will come soon. Faster than this one, if everything goes well. Thank you for joining me and please do tell me how you found it! Everything will click together eventually!***


	8. 8 - Through Life and Death

***Welcome back! For sticking this far, you must be kind of enjoying this fic! I'm happy to see you all again, thank you for reading and without further ado, here comes the eighth chapter!***

 **CHAPTER EIGHT – THROUGH LIFE AND DEATH**

Bruce's sleep was very uneasy that night; he couldn't find a single position to feel at peace. Once he was asleep, he would wake up just a little later, in the midst of anxious dreams and fighting with his bedsheets. He left the bed earlier than usual, grabbed a cup of strong coffee and not bothering to wear anything above his underwear, sat on his favorite, big leather chair in front of the Bat Cave's monitors.

The days were passing by as they usually did, but without Diana and without a single clue on how she was doing down there. And well, it was obvious that that was the thing bothering him.

He lazily scanned through his monitors; no new activity-at least nothing worth taking care of immediately. He took a sip from his bitter coffee and sat back again. He really needed to take Zatanna's proposition into consideration.

"Up so early, are you, sir?" Alfred said, descending the Cave's stairs.

"I already got my coffee." Bruce replied monotonously.

"A coffee is hardly a proper breakfast for a man leading a lifestyle like yours." Alfred retorted and upon approaching him, laid a silver tray filled with porcelain plates with croissants, French toast, prosciutto and parmesan sandwiches and many other delicacies that Alfred counted as a 'proper breakfast'. "Any progress on the matter?"

Bruce simply shrugged. "I don't know."

"Would you like to discuss anything with this old soul here?"

Bruce sighed. Maybe Alfred would indeed have some useful insight. "We need to communicate with her, but the only known way is through…suicide."

"Good gracious!"

"We can control it, but we are unsure of whether she can get our message. The first attempt bore no results."

"Oh, so there has been an attempt." Alfred got a stern look on his face. "You and your marvelous ideas, sir."

"I'm here, am I not?" Bruce said, smiling and grabbing a butter croissant. "Besides, you were the one to give me that idea."

"Excuse me?!" Alfred's eyebrows shot up. "When did I ever suggest something so ridiculously foolish?"

"If I recall correctly, your exact words were 'if nothing else, you will see each other again in the afterlife'."

"I was merely joking!"

"Well, joking or not, you did give me that idea."

"I didn't think you would be so willing to die to be with Princess Diana, _sir._ And to think _actually_ married people only have to obey to the 'till death do us part'. You took it one step further."

Bruce rolled his eyes and snorted. " _The League_ needs her back."

"And _you_ need her back somewhat more than everybody else to be putting your life on the line like this. Quit lying to yourself, sir."

"There were other candidates too, stop pestering me, Alfred."

"Well, if you do in fact resort to that foolish idea again, I hope those candidates show up too. You cannot, under no circumstances, repeat that reckless action!"

"I am aware, Alfred."

"Oh, good to see you again, common sense. You've been away for so long from this household."

"You're quite perky today. What's going on?"

"I don't know, maybe it's this feeling, called disappointment, or anger, that spiced up my morning, sir."

"Relax, Alfred. I'm brainstorming on how we can go around without resorting to that, because I am not willing to risk anyone's life."

Alfred nodded. "I am afraid I can't quite contribute to that. I've fallen short on new…ideas."

"It is fine… Thank you anyway." Bruce said earnestly. This small exchange of words with Alfred seemed to have rejuvenated his spirit for some reason.

Alfred bowed lightly and turned to leave. As he ascended the stairs, he stopped right before the entrance and spoke. "If it must, indeed, come to the repetition of that, consider me another candidate. This body might be old, and maybe its days are numbered, but if I can be of any use, I'd like to do it. If not for Princess Diana, for you at least."

Bruce arched an eyebrow. Alfred did give him some good ideas when he was the least aware of it.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Bruce looked at his colleagues' faces with contained impatience. He understood that Zatanna's and his proposition was somewhat…intriguing but, well, what other options did they have?

"At least no one's life will be put on the line prematurely." Green Lantern said, nodding. "It is an improvement from our last attempt."

"We've got nothing to lose, but the questions remains," Superman said, "how do we do it. To my knowledge, we have no clue on how she receives messages, if she does at all."

"This is why we will combine as many elements as possible!" Zatanna replied, with a huge smile on her face. "We will take as given that she receives something from the incoming souls and work on that. Case one, she sees them. Case one a, she sees them naked –not the best for her, let me tell you- and case one b, she sees them with the clothes they died with. Case two, she talks with them. Case three, she _reads_ them. Case four, she receives them as shapeless, worthless entities."

"…You've given this quite some thought." Hawk Girl said, arching an eyebrow.

"Well, duh? It was my idea after all."

"Let's work it case by case then." Martian Manhunter said, bringing them to order. "Case one a. Diana sees the souls of people naked."

"So, supposing she needs to _see_ something, and skin is all we got, is it too radical to suggest…tattoos?" Flash said, grinning.

"Or something like bodypaint maybe?" Superman said.

"And what should we write?" Captain Atom asked.

"We will put together the message later," Martian Manhunter replied, "once we are done putting our methods together." Captain Atom nodded. "I am noting these two options for case one a. Case on b now."

"Easy. And the best for us." Zatanna said. "We can just prep some T-shirts or robes with the message and make them wear them when, you know, they approach the end."

"Agreed. Case two?"

"After the informed consent of the relatives and the person of interest," Batman said, "he/she will receive the message from us, with clear orders to convey this message, should Diana speak with them. We should just make sure to repeat it many times, in case the person's memory fails at times."

"So, yeah, J'onn," Zatanna said, "cross out people with Alzheimer's and dementia from our target list. Or non-communicative ones."

"Leave the non-communicative ones." Batman intervened. "They can be useful for case one." They all nodded.

Martian Manhunter nodded. "Case three."

"The same." Batman said. "If she reads the incoming souls, in a way, she should be able to see our talk through them, and receive the message." And it hit him, suddenly, that Diana might have actually…read him as well. He didn't know how to feel about that.

"And case four, we pray to God that she has an idea of her own." Superman concluded, and received agreeing nods from his teammates.

"But are we sure she, like, welcomes all the souls?" Flash wondered.

"We can't be sure about anything." Green Lantern said. "We're just guessing."

"Well, I can't imagine anyone, not even Hades, dealing with so many souls every moment. I mean, you'd have to make a selection. So, yeah, I think we should find _a lot_ of people to join this effort, so that statistically, she may eventually come across one."

"He's right." Batman said and Flash smiled at the praise.

"To the message, then." Martian Manhunter said.

OOO-OOO—OOO-OOO

"This is by far the worst thing I've ever been made to do." Zatanna commented, walking through the grey-blue corridors of the Oncology ward.

"Whose idea was it, again?" John Stewart replied.

"Hey, I never revoked my…responsibility. But that doesn't mean I'm going to enjoy it. And you know, if this works, I'm going to have to go through hell for this necromancy to work so, trust me, I've got my work cut out for me."

John simply nodded and braced himself for the visit in room 13. They had agreed that the best way to discuss with the families and the person would be through two Leaguers; one friendly, likeable and compassionate –that would be Zatanna for today, and one more serious, authoritative and inspiring towards self-sacrifice –that would be himself, according to J'onn. And so they were paired. He wondered how Clark and Shayera were doing; obviously Clark was the likeable half of the pair and he chuckled a bit at that thought.

He took a look at Zatanna as they approached and she nodded solemnly. He exhaled and pushed the door.

Their hearts sunk a bit in their chest, as they took a look at their 'target'; a skinny, middle-aged man, sitting in his hospital robes, with all kinds of tubes connected to him. His skin looked as thin as paper and his eyes were sunken in their sockets, surrounded by dark circles. Zatanna guessed he must have been handsome back in the day, but, alas, life had other plans for him. By his bedside, they saw his wife and daughter, startled by their sight.

"Good morning, sir, ma'ams." John greeted. Zatanna nodded by his side. "We have come here on a mission of great importance."

"What happened?" The daughter asked.

"We will explain in a minute. Be aware that the matter must be handled with great…secrecy."

"And we know that what we're going to ask," Zatanna added, "is going to be hard and we will understand if you refuse. But we are in dire need of your help, even at this hour."

The man took a long look at them and tiredly moved his hand, signaling them to approach.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Diana guessed that several days must have passed up on Earth, judging from the number of souls coming. She just wished she could do something more to help her people up there, but all she could do for now, was keep training and getting stronger.

Haros' insight was valuable. Diana _knew_ it was actually happy to witness her grow and evolve. By now, through soul synergy, she had gotten four souls out with ease, and handled them well outside too. Of course, they were relatives of the Waynes, but one step at a time.

Judging the souls was getting quite pleasant as well. Hand in hand with Haros, they sent them to their according Realms and Diana felt like this was her own pastime, like watching a soap opera on TV.

She knew, of course, that it was taking a toll on her psyche. She could feel it. The compassion she once felt for all the poor souls down there was slowly leaving her. Every time she needed to determine the final place of a soul, she felt colder and colder, like sorting beads. Only, they weren't beads; they were once living people, with feelings and families and memories. And Diana, well, she…she just didn't care so much anymore. Every time she took a look at one, she realized that Haros was, indeed, initially right. The foreign memories are not an easy thing for a mere demigod mind to process but she knew one thing; she needed to do it. Not because Haros said it was her job to sort them- she even took a look at souls inside the Realms, but because it was her only way to become stronger. The more souls she could manipulate, the better. Maybe, in the end, she wouldn't even be herself anymore; but that would be quite fine if she ever managed to get out somehow. Because she needed to be free and stop Hades. Stop him, as she was certain that sooner or later he would be up to something and it was her duty to protect Earth and her people.

With that thought in mind, she lazily walked to the Realms once again. She had brought the hyalon closer to them, so that she would be even more motivated; she had promised that she would get so much stronger, that Iris would be _forced_ to convey her message if she ever valued her existence. And Diana was not one to quit.

She rubbed her hands together, ready to proceed, when Haros approached her.

"Princess, sorry to disturb, but I believe you would like to see something."

"What is it, Haros?"

"To be honest, I wasn't sure if it was a joke or not at first, and if it wasn't, if it would be for the best interest of the place to show you, but my loyalty lies first and foremost to you, the Guardian of the Underworld."

"Of course it is. What are you talking about?"

"Follow me."

Haros led them to Acheron. Diana flew over to the boat it indicated and took a seat by the Haros rowing on it. She almost chuckled by the sight in front of her.

The soul belonged to a tall, young she guessed, man. Dark skin, dark hair, dark eyes. What caught, of course, her attention was his outfit. He was into a poorly worn over him hospital robe, with an inscription on it. With a black marker, someone had written: 'DIANA HELP US. SEND SOME SOULS UP TO US IF YOU GET THIS MESSAGE SO WE KNOW YOU GOT THIS. AND THEN KEEP SENDING THEM, WE MIGHT HAVE FOUND A WAY TO HELP YOU COME OUT. WE ARE ALL FINE, WE MISS YOU. xoxo ZATANNA'

She laughed. She didn't know, indeed, if it was a cruel joke, but it really was something that Zatanna would write. What had they found? How could she…send them souls?

But first things first. She needed to verify the originality of the message. Composing herself, she delved into the memories of the man.

Poor boy had lost his father early in his life. Car accident, they said. He didn't understand a lot, he was too young, but he knew that his father was never coming home again. His mother worked two jobs for them to get by, and he tried his hardest not to disappoint her. Through hard work, many anxious breakdowns but with the full support and love of his family, he managed to get into college. He met a girl there and well, it was love at first sight. Though they were young, they got engaged and he was happy. One night, however, as he was driving home, he got a text message and as he took his eyes off the road, he didn't quite realize how, he crashed into something. The car turned over and the next thing he knew, he could do nothing.

Diana saw how the remainder of his memories were just…sounds. He couldn't move, he couldn't see, he couldn't respond to anything. But he listened. Sounds of machinery accompanied all of those memories. Voices of nurses and doctors saying 'stable, no change, as always' and sighs, plenty of them. The heart-breaking shriek of his mom as she saw him in that bed. 'Not you too, not you too!' she cried. 'Brain dead' the doctors told her. His fiancé's songs by his ears were somewhere in between all these chaotic sounds. And one discussion by the end of his memories.

'He is a brave young man.' Diana recognized Clark's voice.

'He would have wanted to help.' His mom said.

'We are grateful to you, ma'am.' J'onn replied. 'He is saving lives.'

'Yeah, that's what the docs said. Pull the plug and donate the organs. But how can you pull the plug?'

The rest of the memory was blurred by the intensity of the mother's cries. Diana could distinguish some comforting words from Clark but only faintly.

And then they stopped.

When Diana finished taking a look, she smiled upon realizing she had a tear running down her face. Maybe from the man's story, maybe from hearing her friends, maybe from everything, but it showed her that her old self wasn't completely gone just yet.

Plus, she now knew that the message was genuine. Her friends were indeed trying to communicate. And they had succeeded.

"Are there more?!" Diana asked Haros. "Have you seen more souls like this?!"

"Yes, Princess. I didn't notify you at the first ones I received, thinking they were random but the increasing amount made me appoint this matter to you."

"Where are the others?"

In just a few moments, Diana had gathered the rest of the messages.

'DIANA HELP US. SEND SOUL ENERGY UP. WE CAN HELP YOU.' No signature.

'DIANA HELP US. SEND US SOULS IF YOU GET THIS. WE WILL HELP YOU, WE NEED YOU BACK. - SUPERMAN"

'DIANA HELP US. SEND US SOUL ENERGY, WE CAN HELP YOU OUT. OR FIND A WAY TO TALK TO US PLEASE. –FLASH'

'DIANA HELP US. SEND SOUL ENERGY UP. WE CAN HELP YOU.' No signature again.

'DIANA HELP US. SEND SOULS UP. WE WILL GET YOU OUT. –BATMAN'

She cried with joy with every message she found. And with every message, she took a look at the conversation which led to it. She was so happy to see, or hear, her friends again, even when they were doing such a grim task. But it had worked, it was genius. None of them risked their lives, and she got the message loud and clear.

Now she only needed to find a way to reply. She gave Haros strict orders to notify her with every new message like this and went to the throne room to brainstorm.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Bruce stared at the League dinner plate, pushing a meatball with his fork around. He felt exhausted, drained from every ounce of life. But he guessed it was reasonable, given he hadn't had a decent night's sleep in days. He kept dreaming he was terminally-ill, in message-bearing robes, dying again and again. And that wasn't the bad part; he saw Diana every night, but she wasn't the Diana they knew. It was just a bad copy of Hades, or it was her at first and then she turned into a gigantic hellhound, or a sickly version of herself, or… unpleasant images of Diana, anyway.

Clark joined him. "Hey, Bruce. Not good?" He asked, pointing at the food.

"It's alright."

Clark nodded with a smile. "Yes, I see why your appetite would wither but you should eat something, my friend. You've got a nightshift coming."

"I am aware."

"Who are you with?"

"Red Tornado."

Clark shrugged and started munching on his dinner. After a while, he spoke again. "Don't let it get you down just yet, you know. It's too early." Bruce eyed him sideways. "I know what's on your mind, because it's also in my mind and I am just as distraught as you are. But I'm telling you, it's too early."

"We've had seven deaths so far. Nothing in return whatsoever."

"Do you even know how many people die every day? Seven is a puny number. This might take a while."

"I can wait."

"I know, but you need to wait _positively_ and not like _you_ are about to die any day now, okay? We've had people approaching 'targets' in every country in the world. It will pay off, you'll see. I have a good feeling about this!"

"Mm-hm." Bruce took a bite. Suddenly, Flash pushed the Dining Hall doors open and shouted.

"We've had a hit!"

Just as fast as he came, he ran back again, to notify everyone. Bruce and Clark were soon on their feet.

"You know, _seven_ ," Bruce said as they ran to the Monitoring Hall, "is my lucky number."

 ***Finally some communication! Thank you for reading, please tell me how you found it! Till next time, take care!***


	9. 9 - Dressing Up and Breaking In

***Hello, Wonderbat fans! Thank you for reading so far, I hope you're satisfied with the progress! I'm starting to love this fic more and more. Happy reading!***

 **CHAPTER NINE – DRESSING UP AND BREAKING IN**

Bruce marveled at the sight projected on the huge screen of the Monitoring Hall. Zatanna, behind her camera, showed them Doctor Fate, containing a shapeless, vibrating energy ball within one of his golden magic shields.

" _I know it doesn't look like what you'd expect a soul to look like-"_

"How _did_ you expect them to look like?"Shayera asked, grinning.

" _Well, maybe like the movies, you know? Human-shaped and all."_ The witch gave them a hearty smile. _"Anyhow, this is a resounding success. We were spot-on the places and Diana was quick in responding, so we were lucky too."_

"What are you going to do with it?" Batman asked, seeing how Fate was merely keeping the so-called soul inside his orb.

" _We'll put it in a specially designed talisman. I hope it's going to work because, you know, we found the techniques in some ancient textbooks so it isn't exactly…too trustworthy. No one's done this in a millennia. But if it doesn't work, don't worry, we'll keep it contained till we can craft a better keeping device. We have plenty of skillful wizards here to help."_

"So!" Flash exclaimed. "What do we do next?! Oh, man, I'm thrilled!"

"We keep gathering as many souls as we can." Martian Manhunter said. "And the wizards will try to find an effective way to use them. The rest of us, be alert of any movement from Hades."

"Vague." Flash said. "But whatever! I'm off!" And just like that, he stormed off.

"We do need to come up with a more concise plan." Batman said.

"Let us brainstorm and sleep over it." Superman proposed. "And we can have a summit tomorrow, figure out our course of action from now on. Hades is our top priority."

"I'll set up the summit and notify the rest." Martian Manhunter said. "Till then, Zatanna thank you for work and keep it up."

Zatanna, through the camera, gave them a military greeting, waved goodbye and turned their connection off.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

"If I was Hades out of the Underworld, what would I do?" Nightwing wondered, feeling the regular cold breeze of Gotham city on his cheeks. Down beneath them, Gotham's busiest avenue was crowded as always, with the noises of horns, shouts and screeching tires reaching their ears.

"He has been too inert." Batman said. "That's the worrying part."

"Calm before the storm and such, eh?"

Batman shrugged. "Maybe."

"Well, let's look at it from the very basics. Hades, yes, a God. But what does he do, besides being immortal?"

"And commanding the souls of the dead, you mean?" He raised an eyebrow.

"He may be commanding them, but to command them, he has to reach them first. From what I take, having _also_ studied that incident with Hippolyta some years ago, he can do this when the Gates are open. Otherwise, like we learned, the souls are safely sealed inside and there's no communication possible."

"We did communicate today."

"Yes, but it was intentional. And I don't think Diana would intentionally send Hades a couple of souls like, hey, have some for Father's Day. Plus Hades can't come and go to fetch some, or he wouldn't have gone into such immense trouble just to get out. So it must be something else."

"He can't come and go, that's certain. But he _is_ the God of the Underworld. Diana may be the Guardian for now, but he remains the supreme ruler. Therefore, he must have some aces up his sleeves. We do not know the full extent of his powers."

"What about the other Olympians?"

"Long gone and forgotten, won't even bother with the world. Zeus just owed Hades an old favor. Other than that, no good."

"Well we do know he is sensitive to magic. And we have some great wizards on our side."

"Will he be sensitive to magic forever? He knows his weaknesses, I doubt he'll stay vulnerable for long."

"There you have it then!" Nightwing said with a positive grin. "If I was Hades out of the Underworld, with the whole Justice League trying to catch me and with a plan for, let's say, world dominance –it always is world dominance, is it not nowadays?- I would first look for a way to combat my weaknesses. Protect myself."

Batman nodded. "That's a start. He is hiding, obviously. So from that, we can deduct that he is still somewhat afraid. But what is he brewing…"

"Stick to our first step, Bats. How would he cover his weakness? This is crucial! It will come down to a fight sooner or later, so we'd better be prepared."

"Well, _if I was Hades out of the Underworld,"_ Batman said, mimicking Nightwing, "and supposing my powers were superhuman strength and durability," Nightwing started counting with his fingers, "breathing fire, teleportation, mystical transformation to a demonic being, and of course, the dead, what would I use to shield myself?"

"Okay, so, strength and durability aren't helping with magic, if you're vulnerable. So I wouldn't invest on that."

"Agreed. You'd have to be extremely agile with teleportation to be able to avoid let's say, all magical attacks coming towards you-"

"And it's extremely uncomfortable and risky. So it's a no-go too."

"His real form doesn't seem to be more resilient to magic. It's just the looks that change, there goes another no-go-"

"And that leaves us with the dead…"

Batman sighed and inhaled the crispy air deeply. "Yes. But how can he gather such power? He can't even perform his usual acts without some souls which are, for now, sealed down there. There must be something…"

OOO-OOO-OOO

Diana had really hoped her trick had worked. Otherwise, all the uneasiness she was feeling, and the state of contained panic that she had put Haros into was of no use.

See, squeezing her brain to find a solution to grant her teammates' request had come up empty, but the solution was apparently right underneath her nose. How could she forget the emphasis Haros had put into _quickly_ sorting the souls of the newcomers before they become unstable and flee? So it was obvious.

She had agreed to let just one soul go, and wait for a new message, on whether it had worked or not, since Haros was right; if the League couldn't get the soul through this, then they would be unleashing terrifying powers, curses more like, upon the living for no reason. She had dutifully sorted the rest of the waiting souls and then she, also, waited.

Somewhere between her training sessions with the souls, which were finally starting to show some results, she had stumbled upon Hades' old armor suit pieces around the alchemy hall. Thinking she may come up with something new to try out, she decided to take a closer look.

The humongous black armor torso, she remembered, he wore it all the time –at least when she last saw him, so it wasn't among those she found. His spiky shoulder patches, of course, were a necessary accessory so those weren't there as well. A second pair or brassards was the first thing she got in her hands.

They were, naturally, black with small silver inscriptions on both ends. Their material was a metal but nothing like the ones they forged their own ones back in Themyscira. This one felt different and she could feel it at the tip of her fingers. It felt like it was buzzing. The inscriptions roughly translated to something along the lines of 'he who guards commands, he who commands guards'. A tribute to Hades' powers, she figured, and moved on. The leather straps on the inner side were of the finest quality, made to have a firm grip on the forearm and never fall. She marveled at the admirable craftsmanship and thought it was actually quite a shame they were too big for her.

"Hephaestus' work, obviously." Haros' otherworldly voice sounded from behind her.

"Mm, that's what I thought too. Amazing craft, weird metal."

"Well, you would find that all materials processed by godly hands tend to become… _weird_."

"So there's magic engraved, you say?" Stupid question she thought after having it asked. She could feel the magic herself.

"Hades would never reduce himself to something less suiting of his godly stature. He might be a prisoner, or an exile, if you may, but he remains a God nonetheless."

"I guess…"

"Try them on."

Diana arched her eyebrow. "I could probably fit my calf in here, not my forearm. Or both of my forearms maybe."

"Princess, princess… still stuck to your earthly logic. Try them on, I insist."

Diana placed the brassard on her forearm and tried to tie the leather straps, thought its cylinder was obviously too big. Not even a second after her attempt to bring the first pair of straps together, the brassard, on its own, closed up on her hand, assuming its right size and the straps were tied up strongly, as if pulled by an invisible hand.

Diana smiled at Haros. "Well, well… would you look at that." She placed the second one as well and looked at how her reflection on the metal stared back at her.

"One would expect you would have gotten used to godly things by now, Princess. I am…disappointed."

"Oh, please, we both now you're far from disappointed, concerning my progress around here. Now, would you care to tell me whether these brassards have any other special abilities I should know of?"

"Mm, it's been millennia since Lord Hades last put them on, he was always fonder of his spikier ones. I don't recall anything remarkable about them. Hephaestus had made them specifically for him, saying that the armor would suit his power but they never proved to be anything more than good, trusty, sturdy brassards."

"Either way, I like them, so I might as well keep them on. Is there another piece of the armor Hephaestus made, left here?"

"The whole if it. As I mentioned before, Hades preferred his newer armor."

"How come? This one is very nice, if I may say so myself."

"His other armor," Haros explained, "was made by one of Ares' own blacksmiths. Much more fit for attacks, with the spikes and the qualities of the metal used. You see, that metal was enchanted to burn the enemies that touched it and, as a whole, the armor was made to make its wearer withstand pain better, and therefore fight longer."

"I see, then, why Hades would choose that. But this doesn't seem too ordinary either." Diana said, stroking her new brassards and putting on the calf leggings that she found among the things, which, like the brassards, cupped her legs perfectly. "There must be more to it than just…adjustable size."

"The armor doesn't make the warrior, Princess. It's merely a shell. What matters, is the wearer."

"Agreed, but still… Anyway! Where's the torso of it? I'd like to have the full set. I'd like a change of outfit."

"The last time Hades scrambled things around here, I believe the torso ended up somewhere behind the throne."

And indeed, there it was. Somewhere behind the massive volume of the throne, Diana located the two halves of the torso. The metal was the same, but the engravings were what made it stand out.

On its front, an owl was engraved in such a way, that though someone could see it, it integrated perfectly into the metal and the shape. The head, with the pair of big, round eyes where right above the sternum. The rest of the engravings were its wings, with feathers reaching up, to the shoulders, and down, in the shape of the abdominal muscles.

"Formidable." She mumbled.

"Nothing less from Hephaestus. Come on, try it on. I'd very much like to see how it looks on you."

Diana half-smiled and placed the armor piece over her head. The openings were more than wide but as it slid down her neck, she, like with the brassards, witnessed it shifting to fit her. The head of the owl was beneath her neck. A pair of 'wings' stretched up over her collarbones and essentially connected the back part with the front. The rest of the feathers went down her body, caressing its shape perfectly. She watched as it formed a skirt of long strides of black metal, with tiny linear engravings, much like the tail of an owl.

"Hoot-hoot." She said laughing. "This is nice! Magic or not, it's pretty."

"Certainly. The engravings do look different, but very nice nonetheless. It suits you."

"Thank you."

Diana thought for a second, that this was all maybe too black for her taste. But she didn't mind. She liked it enough and laughed at her belated 'goth' phase-a term she had picked up from the movies she had been watching up on Earth. A small voice inside her head told her that it suits her better now. And with that, it meant the ongoing string of changes she had witnessed on herself and was pointless to deny. But that was an issue to ponder on another time, as Haros seemed to demonstrate the throne to her.

"What are you pointing at, Haros?"

"Why, this is something that has escaped our attention so far. Take a good look at your throne, Princess."

" _Hades'_ throne."

"Is it, really?"

And Diana knew exactly what it meant. She remembered very well how the throne looked when she first saw it. She had detested it. It was dark, tall, with spiky projections all over, in a shapeless manner that seemed to loom over everyone close to it. But it wasn't like that anymore.

For once, it was much shorter than it used to, though still big nonetheless. The millions of pointy projections were, some of them, united into bigger ones, closely resembling swords. Shapes that looked like vines were wrapped around them and the throne seemed to expand sideways, as the 'vines' kept going outwards, more like trying to embrace the space around.

"This…this is supposed to represent _me_?!" Diana marveled, recalling how Haros had said that this also adjusts to whomever uses it.

"I find it rather suiting as well. You're having an impact around here."

And Diana smiled at that, and then wiped the smile of her face. She was experiencing a huge conflict of emotions within her; she didn't want to make an impact there. She wanted to leave, she wanted Hades back and fast. She knew herself. Or did she not? Why was she feeling…happy about it? What was she even fighting for? Was her purpose of doing what her 'duties' were the same as it was when she first came and hated everything? What if she-

"No!" She said and shook her head in anger. Huffing, she ran to Acheron. She knew the waters would calm her down.

The earthling in her head told her that swimming and armor do not go together. But she wasn't an earthling anymore, and this wasn't Earth. This was her turf now.

Sure as that, she took a deep dive into the dark waters. They were cool and warm at the same time, but soothing nonetheless, soothing as ever. And the small engravings of her armor, where the wings were, felt like soft, silk strings caressing her skin. Reality felt warped down there. And though it was water, she breathed, and she breathed not air, but that water. And it felt like cleanse.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

A normal, ordinary case of museum burglary would hardly ever catch any Leaguer's attention. They had more urgent, planet-safety-regarding issues to think about, and this wouldn't have been an exception, if it wasn't for the poor guard whose turn was to be on the nightshift.

Luckily, the new incident filter that Nightwing had installed for worldwide monitoring of criminal activity had worked. He had adjusted some of the algorithms in order to catch anything that would hint towards Hades and a police report of a Washington museum guard's testament over a burglary, with the note of 'possibly mentally disturbed', had been 'caught'.

And so the guard, to his utter surprise, was met by Batman, Zatanna and Green Lantern, who were more than willing to listen to his report of the events, although the police officers had looked at him as if he was crazy.

Apparently, a man, who the guard identified from a sketch the Leaguers made of Hades, had somehow gotten into the closed museum and casually marched towards one of the halls. The guard described him as huge and extremely intimidating. In his own words, ' _that bastard was wearing armor! Like, a real armor!_ ' When he tried to tackle him, the 'burglar' had pushed him aside like swatting a fly and the guard saw his eyes were glistening red, and from his hand claws emerged as he, in a voice _'right from the pits of hell, I don't know how else to describe it_ ', warned him to stay down.

The man admitted of being scared out of his wits, but it was his job and so after a few moments he got up, after having called the police, got up to face him again. The burglar had broken a glass case and had taken out many of the exhibits. The guard sneaked up on him and jumped on the intruder in order to push him aside, only to cry out in pain, as the side that came in touch with his armor was burnt. Truly, he showed them his arm, wrapped in gauzes with ointment. The burglar didn't mind him the least bit and before he could do anything else to stop him, _'he vanished, like, out of thin air, he seriously vanished!"_.

"What did he take?" Zatanna asked, as Green Lantern inspected the room with a ray of his ring for any further clues.

The guard shrugged. "I don't know, I'm new here and I'm not really interested in antiquities, just need to have a salary, you know? All I remember is that there were some tiny jade vases maybe and some jewelry from some ancient queen or something? Our director of antiquities will keep a record of what was stolen, and we will send it you right away, Miss."

Green Lantern approached them with a small paper in hand. "I found this in the case." The paper wrote ' _Dear visitors, exhibits 71a,c, 73a,b, 74a and 75 have been sent to be presented at the 'Musée du Saint-Luc' in Valloireux of France. Please make sure to visit Hall C, to admire the great exhibits they sent us in return.'_

"Yeah, museums do it all the time." The guard said. "Exhibit exchanges."

The Leaguers looked at each other in understanding.

"Thank you for your help." Zatanna said. "If you remember anything else, inform the police and we'll know."

The guard nodded and soon they were on the way to leave. By the entrance, they met a tall middle-aged lady, who greeted them. "Hello, members of the Justice League, I am Rose Gustin, director of antiquities. It's a horrible thing to have antiquities stolen, but, really, why do you wish to be involved in this?"

"We believe the case is linked to one of our ongoing chases." Green Lantern said vaguely. "So any information you can give us will be valuable."

"As soon as I have fully noted what is missing, I will let you know. But I do not understand this. Those exhibits weren't nearly as precious and expensive as the ones we present in other halls, and, trust me, I know my craft, they wouldn't really present any particular interest for collectorsin the smuggling market _._ Why them?"

"We believe the burglar had other motives, maybe he needs to use those exhibits for something." Zatanna said.

Rose appeared confused. "Use them… How?"

"We will figure that out," Batman said, "when you send us the full list and maybe some information on the exhibits too. And on the ones you exchanged for them."

"Oh, yes, for sure, I will send you everything we have on our archives and some personal commentary on them. Anything you may need."

"Thank you ma'am." Green Lantern said. "Now, we'll be on our way."

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

"Surely enough he'll strike again." Flash said. "I doubt he would bother to read the current news of the museum. He just found out where the items normally are and hit. When he got there, he took what he found, but half of the items were given, so it's only reasonable he'll try to take the rest of them too."

"He is pushing his contract limits, though…" Shayera said. "He is not attacking, but he is provoking. Strolling into a museum, breaking cases, stealing."

"He's clever." Batman said. "He is not attacking, he's still defending. That is why he didn't bother with any of the guards."

"Yes, the claws thing was just a bluff." Superman said. "The guard wouldn't possibly know that he can't attack. But for how long is he going to keep doing this?"

"Until he gets what he needs. And he must be stopped." Batman said.

"It's safe to think he will strike the Saint-Luc museum." Shayera went on. "And soon. Guys like Hades don't wait."

"He had waited till now." Flash said.

"For some reason. Now that he knows where what he needs is, why wait? And I'm guessing it's going to be at night again. He is smart, but it's pushing it too far doing it with many humans around."

"Agreed." Batman said.

"We have another three hours before the museum closes." Martian Manhunter said. "Should I tell them that one of us will be taking the night shift?"

"For sure." Superman said. "We cannot take any chances. And preferably a magician should go, too."

"They're all busy with the soul thingy." Flash said. "Besides learning this new sorcery, someone needs to keep the soul we have received at bay until they can do something better with it."

"It's fine, we can handle it for now." Green Lantern said. "We will use the magic amulets Doctor Fate left for such cases, to restrain Hades and call for the wizards to arrive at the scene if anything happens."

"I guess we can do that." Flash said. "I volunteer to go tonight."

"I can take tomorrow night." Martian Manhunter said. "After we've examined the stolen item list, which will probably arrive tonight."

"I'll be in standby for assistance." Shayera said. "Can't really pass as a human with these on!" She pointed at her wings.

"Alright." Green Lantern said, crossing his arms. "Let's get ready for action."

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

When Diana resurfaced from the water, feeling completely rejuvenated, she saw three Haros boats waiting around her.

"Yes, Haros?" She said, flying up above, emerging out of the water, obviously not wet.

"I have some messages for you."

Diana took a look at the soul passengers. They were bearing the same clothes with the inscriptions from her friends. All three wrote ' _It has been received, keep it up, thank you.'_

Diana smiled and sat on one of the boats. "Keep rowing, I'll just a short look at them."

"As you wish." Haros said and the boats began their eerie trip on Acheron.

Diana took a good look at the first pair of glassy soul eyes, wishing to find a small glimpse of her friends in the poor being's memories.

 ***A/N: There it goes, I promise more exciting stuff comes up on the next chapter, I didn't want to make this too long, but everything has its significance! I've already begun writing it, it's vacations now, so it should be up sooner, I hope. Also, no beta, so forgive any mistakes. Thank you all so much for sticking around, please leave me a comment if you wish to say anything!***


	10. 10 - Proper Defences

***A/N: Glad you all tagged along so far. I hope the action is getting faster, I don't know how much we've got left for this fic, we'll see as I'm figuring it out. Thank you all and enjoy!***

 **CHAPTER TEN – PROPER DEFENSE**

Flash had slept for twelve hours straight after his night shift. He was itching for some action but nothing happened. It has been as dull as a normal watching shift would be and now it was finally time for him to get some well-deserved rest.

Bruce was on his third espresso shot for the morning. The night had also been a long one for those left behind, meaning him, J'onn and Zatanna who was specifically summoned to give her insight on the stolen items.

Most of them were sealed flasks made out of clay. The museum, not wanting to soil that formidable example of sealing with soft, extremely well-preserved silk threads and a small wax seal, had peaked in for the contents with infrared cameras and other techniques, but it appeared empty and so there was no further need for them to break the seal and had it displayed as it was. They did note a silver lining on the inside of the flask, but no contents nonetheless.

One of the items was also a small silver signet ring, with an amethyst stone which bore the symbol that was found on the wax seals. The archaeologists believed it all belonged to a wealthy family of a long lost Assyrian city, since they were found at the ruins of such houses. They were placed inside an also very well-sealed crate and that is why they believed it had remained so nicely preserved; the oxygen and the natural elements could not reach them easily inside there.

Rose Gustin had given them some further generic information on flasks, signet rings, Assyrian customs and traditions, but nothing they didn't already know. She also informed them that the items they exchanged were a short silver necklace with the same amethyst branded stone that probably belonged to a child from the family, a glass flask that was one of the first examples of glass craft in the area, some jewellery making tools and a small parchment piece.

Zatanna thought hard over what the items might signify. "The fact that they didn't see anything inside, doesn't necessarily mean that they were empty."

"What could they possibly hold?"

She frowned. "Loads of magical ingredients are in gas form and I guess some sort of dust that the archaeologists could mistake as some sort of residue from the clay, could have also been inside. I don't believe their former owner would place them in such a crate if they weren't precious to them. I mean, hello, silver insulation?"

"Yes, obviously." Batman said. "Think Hades is gathering up ingredients for something?"

"It is possible. We shouldn't underestimate him as a sorcerer. It's not his thing, but he has enough innate power to at least brew a decent potion."

"Do you think you could maybe come up with a list of potions that he could make with gas ingredients?"

Zatanna growled. "I hate having to dig up those potion books again! But…ugh, when _she_ comes back, she owes me big time."

"What about the ring?" J'onn asked.

"It could be just a family thing, but for Hades to take it, it must be something else. Maybe the sculpted sign on the stone fits something, maybe it's a key."

"That's an interesting concept. He got both of the jewellery pieces in case the engravings on one were corrupted during all this time, it makes sense."

Zatanna nodded. "I need to go help Fate now, _and_ go scavenging in my father's basement for gas ingredients. So you'll excuse me."

And so she had left them some hours ago.

"I've been thinking." Batman said in a low voice, sipping some of the bitter coffee. "Hades isn't stupid. He knows we'll be on him soon."

"What do you suggest then?" Clark asked, mixing some more sugar with his moccachino.

"He will be expecting us. He'll know we'll be at the museum. So we must make him think we're gone."

"And leave the museum unguarded? He can teleport!"

Batman shot him an exasperated look. "Of course not. We'll have two of our own inside that night. The arrangements J'onn made were for one Leaguer and one regular guard, were they not?"

"If I recall correctly."

"He is not stupid." Batman repeated. "Let's follow that plan for some days as it is. He will be observing. Then we'll set our plan in motion."

"Wasn't this our plan?!" Superman asked, confused.

"Mm, not exactly." And so he left his cup and left. Superman rolled his eyes and shrugged.

"Whatever…" The Kryptonian mumbled.

OOO-OOO—OO-OO

Diana cracked her knuckles and braced herself for another training session. Easily enough, she summoned Thomas, Martha and three other souls that she knew out, manipulating them around, like a warm-up. It had become a habit for her, just like she had practised combat back on Earth.

And a thought crossed her mind, as she watched her 'puppets' swivel around, in and out of their shapes, bidding her will. What a formidable source of energy. Tangible and intangible at the same time, flexible but strong altogether. And what if she could shape them even more than she already did?

She took a look at her brassards and thought how nice they would look with an… extra protective layer on top and half-smiled. Spreading her fingers out, she summoned the five souls around here and concentrated hard.

They were five 'orbs' of energy at her disposal. She took a deep breath and focused. Thomas, her most loyal soldier, started to vibrate until the shapely form of the soul turned into a hazy mess. Martha followed and she made the two merge. Two sharp breaths later, the five souls had turned into one and Diana mentally ordered them to concentrate around her right brassard. And so they did. A bright, vibrant layer of pure, concentrated energy coated her armour piece and she grinned widely.

"Would you look at that?" She mumbled and moved her hand around, watching as the coat, naturally, followed the movements. She also realized that as soon as she placed them there, though it had taken a big effort to condense them, it was much easier to order them to maintain that shape. And she noticed that the soul substance seemed to merge with the armour material, like a continuous exchange of particles was happening between the two; armour and souls. Maybe it was this metal, Diana guessed. Maybe this was what it was supposed to do.

"This could help a lot…" Diana said to herself, thinking of when the time would come to face Hades. Because it would eventually, it had to.

But how would that battle go? A clash of… a God, who had trained in this thing for millennia, thousands of levels above her, and a poor Amazon who could barely handle a couple of souls and would never match a God's abilities in any case. "Oh boy…"

She frowned again. But… could a soul hurt another soul? She wondered. If Hades used souls to attack her, and Diana could at least muster some for her defence, would it work? Could one be used against the other? Would even that defence work?

"Well, this time's as good as any." She told herself again and stood in front of the Lingering Realm.

Stretching her hand out, she summoned two more souls out and focusing some more, merged the two into one. She stood a few meters back and took a good breath. She extended her left hand in a defence position and flinching, ordered the new souls to come right at her. Just as she had predicted, the blow was rather strong and though her new and her old brassards underneath did provide some sort of resistance, she was pushed a good distance back. Her forearm hurt and she rubbed her wrist, waiting for the pain to leave.

Once she felt better, she stretched her right, reinforced arm out and commanded the souls to come at her again. She braced herself and the souls stroke her forearm, but she wasn't affected at all! The hit felt like nothing! She laughed with her success.

"Alright then…" She took five more souls out and engraved them on her left brassard as well. She passed the test, as she was still perfectly capable of continuing to fight though she had placed, and kept out, ten souls already.

Etched on pushing herself to her limits every time, she summoned four more souls out. She felt herself starting to sweat. _Good,_ she thought. _The training's beginning to kick in now._

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

"And I thought I got lucky, not encountering him yesterday…" Flash said, through a yawn. He might have been wishing his night shift would have been more active yesterday, but in retrospect, he considered himself rather lucky in the morning. Or evening anyway.

"We need to make sure this works." Batman said. "Are you up for the job or not?"

"Yeah, yeah. I didn't go to improv classes in college for nothing! Of course I can play a mere human guard. Can Shayera and Vixen play the part?"

Shayera gave him a stern look. "Hello? Hawkman spy for two years?!"

"And former model and actress?" Vixen said. "I think _we_ should wonder whether you can do it or not…"

"Alright, don't get yourselves for the Oscars just yet." Batman said. "It just has to look convincing."

"So what's the script?" Flash asked.

"We wait a couple of nights. Each night, as previously arranged, a Leaguer takes on a guarding duty. We must make sure to, inside the museum, make clear who the proper guard is, and who is not."

"So we, like, just introduce ourselves to the guard. It seems easy so far." Vixen said.

"Yes. We need to cover the case that Hades lurks _inside_ the museum and eavesdrop. So we make clear who his 'enemy' is, and who is the simple human. No need to introduce yourselves as 'Vixen, legendary warrior, woman of the thousand beasts and nature whisperer'." Vixen chuckled. "Just your name and then the guard will offer to show you around. That should be enough to make Hades understand who is who."

"And on the night we take action, I'll be outside. In the trees or something, hiding." Shayera said.

"Yes. That night, there's going to be two of us inside. Vixen plays, well, _remains_ the Leaguer, Flash plays the regular guard. You do know your way around the museum, right?"

"Puh-lease, I watched the place for…one night. Yes."

"You'll put on some discrete cover-up accessories in case Hades also saw you last night and remembers your characteristics clearly, which I doubt, but better be safe than sorry."

"Dress-up! Ooh, I like it already." He flashed them a hearty grin, Shayera rolled her eyes.

"After some hours, you, Vixen, will pretend to receive a call, a _very urgent_ call, which needs you to leave immediately. You turn to the 'guard', tell him you have got to leave and you'll call for back up to come, and you leave. So you basically play among those lines."

"Copy that." Flash said and Vixen nodded.

"Once you're outside, fidget with maybe your earpiece or your mobile phone or something," Batman went on, "and when you, Hawkgirl, see that movement, pretend it's you call and cautiously appear. You'll have a talk concerning a big emergency, say a huge criminal breakout, big explosion, find something that would require you _both_ to leave. Say, Superman and Green Lantern left for some intergalactic mission and they need every Leaguer on deck. Just say something believable. And then, of course, appear _very_ worried of leaving your post."

"Ask whether we should wait for the backup to come before leaving, throw the ball at each other and so on." Shayera said. "We got it."

"Good. And then you leave. Don't go too far of course, I'll ask a wizard to be close-by to conclude the mission. As soon as Flash, _who will put up a small, human fight with Hades-"_

"Juuust great." Flash mumbled, rubbing his ribs, already feeling the pain that would ensue.

"-uses his magical amulet to incapacitate Hades, so the witch or the wizard available at the time can come and keep him down."

"Are we sure this whole thing is going to work?" Vixen asked.

"No."

"But, well," Flash added, "we're not even sure Hades will ever strike this museum. This plan is as good as any to make him act. And if it doesn't work, we just keep on doing what we were doing."

"I guess…"

"Hades is a warrior." Batman said. "Not a strategist. I don't believe he's put too much thought into this, his plan has so far been more of an 'act and react' than planning ahead carefully."

"That is true." Shayera agreed.

"I have to go make the rest of the arrangements for it." Batman said. "Get ready."

With that, he left in a hurry to meet Nightwing and J'onn.

OOO—OOO-OOO—OOO

"Haros, what do you think of my new accessories?" Diana said smiling, once she noticed her comrade approaching.

"Mm, fascinating. Compressed soul energy. I'm impressed. How long have you kept them out, Princess?"

"Quite a while now. The armour seems to help, look, it's like the two are merging."

Haros inspected the brassards. "Indeed. I've never seen Master Hades use this technique on this armour."

"Oh, so he did also do this."

"Of course, it's very good defence. Though it's been millennia since he last needed to defend himself. His brute strength is usually more than enough to get his work done before he needs to defend."

"Yes, he does seem like that sort of person. But I'm not like that. I _think_. Defending gives you time to watch your opponent's move, to find weaknesses, to monitor your surroundings, to plan ahead. This is basic stuff taught at Themyscira. To learn to attack, you need to first learn to defend, that's what they told us. You can't attack if you're dead… So, what I mean to say, is that this is perfect for me."

"You have been mastering up several of the soul techniques quite nicely, Princess Diana." Haros complimented. "And all on your own."

Diana half-smiled. "I think they help me, Haros. The souls. I feel like they… _talk_ to me. Well, not talking-talking, but I do get some inspiration here and there. With some of them I feel I have a deeper connection. Too bad for me that most of them are by the Resting realm; can't play with them."

"It's your character, of course. You're a being of light and happiness, it only makes sense that you're drawn there. But, truly, your progress has long exceeded my expectations."

"Oh, I know. You thought I had zero powers when I came. I remember very clearly. But, you know," she read the saying on her brassards, "he who guards commands, he who commands guards. Ergo, because I am to guard them, I command them, but since I command them, I have to guard them. Yes, it's clear as day." She chuckled. "Although…"

"Yes?"

"This saying is hardly right. It should be ' _she_ who guards commands, _she_ who commands guards.'" And upon saying the last word, she watched as the bright, shiny new coat of her armour seemed to be 'vacuumed' inside the metal itself and her eyes widened. "What the actual…"

"What happened?" Haros asked. "Couldn't you keep them out any more?"

"No, they're here alright." Diana said, bringing her forearm closer to her eyes. "I can feel all of them, it just…I think the armour sucked them in. But why didn't it do it in the first place when I brought them closer?"

"Maybe the saying you altered a bit worked as a spell for you, activating the armour. It won't be the first time I see accidental magic happening to Master Hades' objects around here."

"But is it going to work now? The extra defence?" She frowned. "I'll have to test it out."

Diana huffed and closed her eyes. She ran her right hand over her left brassard and pulled it away, pulling Thomas' soul out until it was floating in front of her. Doing the same thing, she pulled Martha out too and with a swift motion of her hand, the two merged. She took a few steps back, sighed and placed her left hand in defence position in front of her face. Mentally she ordered them to attack her.

When the orb reached her hand and hit, it…didn't. It came alright, but she actually felt the armour absorb it. A small, bright current ran through her brassard, her torso, the owl's eyes which shone briefly, until it extended through the entirety of the set. "Hm."

She wasn't satisfied. She needed to see more.

Still frowning, she took a look inside the Lingering Realm, spotting two souls she had classified and remembered and summoned them out. Ignoring the sweat she was starting to feel again, she merged the two souls again and assumed her defence stance again, having the soul orb aim at her. The result was the same. The armour absorbed them and she could sense it fortify.

"Wow…" She mumbled. "Haros, do you realize what we discovered?"

"A new asset, I believe."

"Exactly! This armour absorbs souls! Like, I barely felt them approaching me. They were straight away taken into, enhancing _my_ defence. This is battle-turning stuff right here! When I get to fight Hades, his soul attacks will be absorbed and _I_ will be stronger!"

"Yes, that could prove useful _if_ that fight ever occurs…"

"It will, my friend. I proved you wrong with the powers, I'll prove your wrong here as well."

"As you wish, Princess."

"But why stop here?!" Diana said, her eyes shining wildly. "How many souls can this armour keep? Is the amount infinite? And why wait till he attacks? I can make myself stronger as it is now by putting more souls into this!"

"Calm down, Princess. Don't you think that is enough for now?"

Diana was breathing fast, ecstatic about her new finding, her thoughts running everywhere. "I haven't felt this close to being so strong since, hah, my wedding to Anne-Marie, heiress to the biggest oil enterprise on Earth!" She laughed, as images of her in a ridiculously expensive tuxedo standing underneath a gazebo decorated with a rare species of orchids that her _darling_ Anne-Marie had picked before having a big fight with one of her bridesmaids and seeking for comfort in a short shopping spree in Paris, filled her mind. And then she realized, the laugh fading away.

"Excuse me, your what?" Haros asked.

Diana touched her forehead. "Oh, mighty Hera …" A surge of panic went through her. Haros was right this time; too much was too much. Her mind could only take so much soul connection before losing the boundaries between herself and them. And the Gods knew how real that foreign memory felt. "You are right, Haros. This is enough for now."

She let all of the souls return to the Realm and started walking to Acheron, dragging her feet along. "When did I become so _power hungry_?" She shook her head. "I can't let my mind loose again. I can't let myself go crazy."

She sat down by the shore, soaking her feet in the shallow water. "Oof… Here it goes." She closed her eyes and started talking to herself, bringing up images of her own memories along. "I am Diana, Princess of Themyscira, the most beautiful hidden island in the world. I am a Greek Amazon, daughter to Hippolyta, trained ceaselessly ever since I was born. I know the ways of the sword, the bow, the spear, the dagger, the…

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Zatanna closed an old, leather book with a loud 'thump'. She scribbled something on a piece of paper and sat back on her wooden chair, letting out a long breath.

"That's all I can get." She told herself and ran her fingers through her hair. She took a look at her watch. "Boy, it's late!" It must have been two days since they had caught the soul, and Zatanna marvelled at Doctor Fate's resilience in keeping it at bay for two days straight. They really should get moving on that as well, she thought and pressed her temples, mumbling some backwards words and sending a mental, magical message to Doctor Fate which was answered soon.

"Any luck finding something around your eternal magical knowledge?" Zatanna asked, half-smiling.

"My shield pressure is working. The soul is being compressed at an adequate pace, no considerable resistance noted so far."

 _That's 'cause it's your shield,_ Zatanna thought. "Where will we put it into, Fate?"

"We require something crafted from a pure material. Magically pure. I told you yesterday."

Zatanna's eyes widened. Of course. But she had forgotten, somewhere along Batman's constant calls, the detailed study of stolen museum items lists, her League duties… "Yes, yes. Um, I'm at our, yes, family library, researching it as we speak. Once I find something suitable, I'll be right over."

"Fine."

"Keep it up!"

And their magical link was cut off. Zatanna groaned loudly. She hadn't spent this much time in their basement ever since she was a little child and she wasn't actually enjoying it. "No candy as reward for studying, no dinner waiting for me on the table, no bed-time stories…" She whined, clearing the desk in front of her. "Erup em gnirb!" She chanted and books, parchments and old scattered notes started flying towards her.

She took a hasty look on the titles of the books. _Pure pleasure; Romance in Heathpeak Hill. "_ Ew, why do we even have those old romance books?!"

 _Making pure cash with a swish of your wand._ "Mm, that does sound promising, but definitely not what I want right now."

 _The perfect guide to the perfect bride._ Zatanna rolled her eyes, thinking of all the hideous ways the context of the word pure might have been used in its pages.

 _Death Spells and Divination; An Art Long Lost._ She recognized the book. She had read most of the pages on the spells when she first decided to get involved with necromancy once they had set this plan into motion. It wasn't like she had exactly learnt it by heart; it was big and she only needed to get a hang of the basics. She took a look at the index. A chapter title read ' _Crafts and Materials in Necromancy.'_ Thinking it sounded promising, she turned to that page.

' _Necromancy had always been a spiritual art. (Ch. 2) But our human nature does not allow us to manipulate or store the precious soul energy like we harvest the rest of this world's energies. When we need to make our predictions and no soul energy can be extracted, how can a wizard have some spare energy in his time of need? Our sources state several techniques used by renowned necromancers. A medium is required; a medium is something with a material substance, pure enough to be able to hold the soul without corrupting it._

 _The technique described in the ancient manuscripts is not fully understood but a common axis can be found. The wizard must bring the soul to an adequate size through constant pressure. Beware, it may require days and several assistants. Thradulus' technique contains this compression stage and then describes the binding procedure, through which the wizard must use some of his magic on the selected material and on the soul, with extreme caution. This magic will work as a thread to tie the two together. The third and final stage is the approach of the two and the permanent binding but no further sources contain details on this stage._

 _What qualifies as pure material? Our wizard ancestors have long known the properties of such materials. We suggest the combination of two or three pure materials in a medium, in case the materials you are provided with are not of the highest purity. The list follows, from best to adequate._

 _\- Black pearl_

 _-Elephant tusk bone_

 _-Hair of a newborn_

 _-Diamond_

 _-Mermaid fin_

 _\- Pure gold…'_

Zatanna kept reading, ready to fall asleep any time soon. There was no way she could get her hands on any of those materials. Unless she asked for help, from one of her wealthy vigilante friends. She laughed but her laugh was cut short as she read some items further down the list and she _realized._

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Hades wasn't fond of waiting. In fact, he had waited too long to be free, too long to get his revenge, and he wasn't going to let anyone take it away from him.

His search had taken long too. After a while of looking around Greece and stumbling upon one of those pathetic humans who dared to call themselves 'superheroes', he had left at once. He didn't know how that creature had found him, but it was his bell to start moving faster. He had located what he was looking for in that museum and taking it was easy. As it would also be, taking the rest as well. He couldn't have predicted the humans would have exchanged those precious things.

He knew, though, that the humans weren't that stupid. Of course they had imagined he would come here. He had seen them now, for a few nights in a row, as they entered the museum dressed as plain guards. His extremely good hearing let him listen to their conversations. The morons didn't even bother hiding their identities from the regular humans. Tsk, this would be easy.

No matter who they had inside, the humans couldn't beat him. He just needed a single attack to justify his actions as defence, and then they would stand absolutely no chance against him. Especially once he would start gathering power again. But for now, he waited. He didn't know why, but observing was what he felt like doing at first.

When the clock chimed 9 and the museum closed, he watched from afar, as a slender, black-skinned attractive human woman approached it, dressed in a guard uniform. The regular guard was at the entrance, waiting for her. This one wasn't too tall or too short. He had freckles all over his face, a stupid moustache and an even stupider pair of spectacles. He snorted. Useless humans couldn't even see well. Hades could make out some ginger hairs underneath the cap, accompanying his even lighter moustache, and laughed. To imagine that somehow humans had managed to produce genes even stupider than blond ones; gingers always made him laugh.

He ran his hand through his dense, dark mane and kept observing. This one human looked rather familiar, but again, they all looked the same. They were pathetic, nothing special about any of them. The only thing worth about them, were their juicy souls.

"Salut!" The woman greeted the guard.

"Salut, mademoiselle. Bien venue!" The guard replied. "My name is Remi, I will try to speak English for you." The human's pronunciation of English was hideous. Of all the things that the people who were named French had tainted, English language didn't have to be one. Couldn't they stick to their stupid language anyway? English at least was simple. Stupid too, but simple. And he sighed at how the greatest language of all time, Greek, had stooped so low. It wasn't even the same for the Greeks anymore; they called it 'ancient'. Ancient! Something so classic and elegant, a treasure for future generations of humans! But he calmed himself. There was no need for him to grow agitated over puny, human matters.

"Nice to meet you, Remi." The woman replied. "I am Vixen. Do you know me?"

"Oh, of course, mademoiselle Vixen. I admire all of you Justice League people!" Hades rolled his eyes.

"I am glad! We are here to keep you safe."

"I know. Your super, _fantastique_ skills make us all feel better."

The woman nodded. "Now, can you show me around? I am supposed to guard after all!" She laughed.

"Bien sûr! Come inside." And the two of them went inside the museum.

Hades relaxed and huffed. It would be hours before he would decide to make a move, it would be better to have them sleepy.

As the hours passed and the weird colours of the sunset were replaced by the comforting dark shade of the moonlit sky, Hades hummed the time away.

 _Strangers in the night, two lonely people, we were strangers in the night…_

Hades felt pathetic himself whenever he acknowledged anything good about humans, but that damn Sinatra would get stuck in his head for days. He had lost count of all the time he had revisited his memories only to hear the songs again.

 _Up to the moment when we said our first hello…_

He started moving closer, it was almost three. He focused his hearing again.

For some time, the only sound that was coming were their footsteps on the marble floors and the sound of the keys on their belts. It went on for a while until he heard one pair of footsteps, the loudest ones, so he assumed it was the female's. She had approached the other one.

"Oh, my, Remi, I have to go!" She said, trying to keep it low. She sounded worried. Hades arched a questioning eyebrow.

"What?! You cannot leave me alone, Miss Vixen!"

"I just received a message, it is super urgent! You see, some of our members are out of the planet right now and cannot go and trust me, this is very, very important!"

"But what if… _he_ comes? The burglar? What am I going to do?! Mon Dieu!"

"I'm calling for backup as we speak. They should be here in just a few minutes! Now, I'll sneak from the side, take care of yourself!"

"…I'll try!"

Hades moved even closer. She noticed the woman exiting from a side door, looking left and right for any signs of activity. She took out her phone and in a few moments, something shuffled the leaves of a tree nearby and he saw the winged one from the League land quickly in front of the previous woman.

" _Of course_ they'd have two around." He mumbled and kept watching.

"What is it?!" The winged one asked.

"Massive jail breakout! Harley Quinn busted out Joker and he created a ruckus by letting out all the other prisoners as well. We're talking Killer Croc, Riddler, Cheetah. Massive! And you know, with Wondie out of the picture and Sups and Green Lantern out of the planet for that mission, someone's got to round them up!"

"Shit! We should hurry!"

"Wait, I can't just leave the museum! It's my shift!"

"Did you call for backup?"

"Yeah, I paged the satellite, someone will be up but I should wait for them!"

" _Wait?!_ Girl, if we wait, Joker will be running back in Gotham before you even think of leaving this place. Need I remind you of Cheetah's speed or something too?"

The regular woman made a squeaky, discomfort noise. "I feel so bad!"

"I…I understand. I don't want to leave the exhibits unguarded. But…if the situation isn't controlled…"

"It's gonna be chaos. God, we cannot have them running loose now! We have to focus on Hades!"

"We have bigger problems than him right now! Let's get going _now!_ We have to hurry! _"_

The regular sighed and the other one flew away. Hades watched as she touched a necklace around her neck and saw something that looked like the soul equivalent of a jaguar form around her, as she started to run on all fours really, really fast.

Hades waited a couple of minutes before they were gone for sure and smiled to himself, as he teleported inside the museum.

"Bigger problems than me _,_ eh? I'll show you big problems soon enough…"

 ***A/N: More action coming up, stay tuned! I obviously don't have anything against gingers, I was just trying to give a Hades POV, who is clearly a misanthropist of all kinds and thinks his traits are above everything, naturally.**

 **Thank you for sticking around, I hope the next chapter comes up fast as well.***


	11. 11 - Soul Sharing

***A/N: Welcome back. Thank you all for your reviews/favs, they mean the world to me. I hope you're enjoying how it's going. Without further ado, here comes 11.***

 **CHAPTER ELEVEN – SOUL SHARING**

Zatanna swallowed dryly, her eyes wide and her pace racing. Whatever feeling of sleepiness she had before was long gone, replaced by uneasiness and anxiety.

She had hoped that what she had read was just a joke, something out of her imagination, but it was not. There, clear as day, she read _'silver, silk, amethyst'_ and the list went on. Silver and amethyst, a common combination for jewellery but it was absolutely no coincidence that Hades had stolen items with that composition. No gas ingredients, no secret keys, no nothing; Hades wasn't looking for anything of that sort. He was looking for something far deathlier.

She got up, running for the exit. Where should she go? Who should she call? Fate? Batman? Flash? All of them? What about their mission to catch Hades? Was it too late?

"Ugh!" She groaned loudly, deciding to call Fate and make her way to the closest zeta tube. There was no time to waste, her friends could be in grave danger.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Flash tossed his flashlight between his hands, pacing up and down the corridors. Well, not all the corridors, just the one close to the borrowed exhibits.

He had taken a look at them. They weren't anything special; at least not for the common eye. A pair of silver earrings and a small silver dagger whose handle was decorated with a single black pearl was all they were. Was Hades in for a style makeover, Flash wondered and shrugged. If so, he _really_ should reconsider.

He felt his pace racing as the seconds went by. Vixen had left three minutes ago. That was enough time for her and Shayera to have their short conversation and for Hades to get either agitated enough or feel lucky enough to enter. And that would mean he was about to get a beating and he was definitely not pleased about it.

He sighed and took a look at his shiny shoes. He really should get out of the house more often. All he ever seemed to wear lately was his running red boots of his costume.

But at least they were silent, he thought, as he heard some loud steps coming from the front of the museum. Why would Hades even bother to _not_ get his presence noticed? It wasn't like he gave a damn. Flash took a deep breath, and approached, tensing up.

Surely enough, Hades, humongous as ever, was parading through, as if taking stroll in his private mansion.

"Pardonnez-moi, monsieur, mais vous ne pouvez pas entrer la musée maintenant. Qu' est-ce que vous faites ici?" Flash said, going for the Taser on his belt. _(Excuse me, sir, but you cannot enter the museum now. What are you doing here?)_

Hades simply gave him a disregarding glance and kept moving forward.

"Monsieur!" Flash tried to warn, pretending to be afraid. Or maybe not pretending.

Hades just kept on approaching. Flash tried to taze him, aiming the cables on his uncovered arm but Hades just laughed when the electrodes hit him and Flash was sure the sound ranked high up in the list of the most horrendous he's ever heard. Hades approached and Flash started shaking as he brushed shoulders with him and kept on walking.

 _Act human!_ He told himself and groaning ran up to the God of the Underworld, as if he could even do anything, and tried to tackle him by jumping on him from the side. He felt his uniform getting burnt and surely enough, the burning sensation expanded to the side of his arm and he flinched. Hades pushed him away and he slammed hardly against the strong wall of the museum.

The pain on his back got a lot worse as he tried to stand and he barely managed to withhold mouthing a very American 'Fucking shit'. He noticed how Hades had stopped walking and looked at him, his eyes as red as they get and his face pulled into a terrifying grimace. His right hand was a hand no more; it looked more like a paw with sharp claws. Just like the other guard had described.

"Reste là." Hades replied in perfect French and Flash wasn't sure if it was appropriate to laugh at the actual God of the Dead speaking French to him pretending to be a guard in a fake moustache and crooked glasses. ( _Stay there.)_

 _You bet your ass I'm going to stay here. Not._ Flash told himself.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Diana groaned loudly as if she was in pain, falling on her knees and her hands. She panted loudly as four dozens souls exited the armour and floated back to the Lingering Realm. She felt dizzy, like the first time she had gone overboard with the Themiscyran wine, but with half the fun and double the sense of discomfort.

"Yes, I do believe some resting would be in order." Haros said, approaching. "You've outdone yourself, Princess."

"It's not enough!" Diana tried to shout but her voice failed her.

"Of course it is enough." Haros replied, making some sense of her mumbling through her teeth. "It's almost four times the amount of souls you handled yesterday. If anything, I think you should congratulate yourself and go have some well-deserved rest. You are human after all, you need it."

"I am a demigoddess and I need to"-she placed her hand on her bent knee and managed to stand up-"get stronger!" The sudden appearance of the image of a new-born baby in her arms whining made her feel happy. It was a girl, she remembered, her husband and she were going to name it Elia to honour her late sister. Sister or brother? New images of a tall, dark-skinned young man replaced the baby. He was so kind, she loved him dearly. Why did he have to drive drunk that night and leave her alone in this world?

Diana felt like throwing up. Those too-real foreign memories invaded her mind once again with no warning. She pressed her fingers on her temples and closed her eyes. "I think I know what is happening." Haros said approaching. "I had warned you, I believe."

"I don't have much choice here. I need to do this."

"I really cannot understand where this strong sense of obligation to push yourself stems from, Princess. Are you not satisfied as it is now?"

"Haros, my dear, dear friend. I told you the moment I came here that I won't be staying. I don't belong here."

"Well, hundreds of souls beg to differ. A huge throne catered to you begs to differ. The armour you're wearing begs to differ. I could go on…"

"This might be working but it's not right. If I don't get out, Haros, I'll break. I'm feeling less like myself with every passing moment. I hate to imagine what will become of me if Hades gets his way and I am forced to stay here forever. Picture it like this. You could strap a dog to a cart and have it pull the load for some distance, but it will fall down before long. Yes, the cart will have moved, but the dog would be dying and the pace would have been slow. Or you could stick to your horse and have it pull the cart with ease, fast and efficiently. Well, if my metaphor wasn't obvious, I'm the dog and Hades is the horse. I'm not as well-suited for this as he is. Just like a dog would be a better guard than a horse, my place is somewhere else. See what I mean?"

"I believe so? I have never seen any of those animals myself, but if you say so…"

"I need help, Haros. This is the second time I've had foreign memories in my head while _not_ actively seeing inside a soul and it will only get worse as I try to manage more souls battle-wise. Do you have any…tips? Maybe something on Hades' techniques?"

Haros pondered for a moment. "There is something, but I do not know how you will react to it."

"I can take any suggestion."

"No, it's not the suggestion that might revoke your…verbal, ethical reaction. It's the thing itself. Please go sit by Acheron and I will be right over."

Diana shrugged and dragged her feet up to the shore. Once again, she sat by the edge of the water and breathed deeply. Haros soon followed, carrying a simple silver chalice. Diana recognized it from the pile of leftover Hades things. "Another mystical object?" Diana asked.

"No, it's just a chalice." Haros dipped it in the water, filled it and handed it to Diana.

"I…drink this? What does it do?"

"This 'water' is something like a dissolver, or a soul-antidote if you will. It cleanses."

"I certainly do feel better whenever I take a dive. It helps me vent. I see."

"Be careful though. Diving isn't close to what this does when drunk."

"Enlighten me."

"Master Hades drunk some of this back in his early days of warfare and dead business when he was overwhelmed. It calmed him. I noticed it did take some time before he came back to his normal self. I soon found out that it _really_ is a soul antidote."

"Then it's exactly what I need to rid me of those intrusive foreign memories!"

"Did I ever mention it being selective, Princess? I think not."

"Oh…" Diana realized what Haros meant. "What about my own soul."

"Precisely. A godly being doesn't have to worry about that, but your human nature grants you a very real soul and I'm afraid that this might erase all of your traits and memories of your own."

"That sounds really bad."

"Indeed it does. Of course, your personal ones are more strongly etched on your being than anything else, but is it worth taking that chance? I leave it up to you."

Diana took a close look at the liquid. It was clear around the edges and darker towards the centre of the chalice. She never thought she could actually drink it but here she was… How badly did she want the foreign ones out of her head? A lot, she replied to herself. If this kept happening, she wouldn't be able to focus on much during or after her training sessions. And what if, soon, the souls came to 'haunt' her on other random moments? It would really interfere with everything.

"I want to try this." Diana said after some moments of thinking. "But not without a failsafe. I want you, Haros, to guard my memories. Should anything go off, you'll give them back to me. Simple."

Haros just nodded and extended its bony hand towards Diana. Diana took it in her palms and started reciting the memory journey she took the last time it happened. "I am Diana, Princess of Themyscira, the most beautiful hidden island…

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Flash counted some painful seconds, hoping the magical assistance was on its way. Hades was dangerously approaching the exhibits and he had to be stopped. Thinking this was his final call, he sprinted to the God of the Underworld, readying his magical orb.

Yes, Hades was fast, but not as fast as him. The orb hit him on his back and a bright cloud of condensed magical energy engulfed him. With a loud growl, Hades fell to his knees and, having gained enough momentum, Flash managed, though not painlessly, to push the monstrous being somewhat away from the showcase. He placed himself between the exhibits and Hades and held his second magical sphere in his hand. Once the effect of the first started wearing off, he had to use the second right away; Hades was too strong and too dangerous to let loose like that. And so he did when he noticed the magic layer around him thinning. Once the second sphere found its target, he heard Hades' angry voice curse, probably in Greek and he felt some sweat beads gather on his forehead. Someone should come, and fast.

To his immense relief, he saw the figure of Raven gliding through the museum doors and approaching them. "Get away!" She shouted. "Now!"

Flash thought he had never heard her husky voice sound so anxious before. And this wasn't the time to ask why; she probably had her reasons, and so he obeyed, moving away from Hades and retreating to a corner.

The sorceress' hands turned black as she summoned her magic and aimed it towards Hades, who, Flash noticed, was starting to regain his composure.

"Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos!" Raven called, as a big black cocoon formed around the God of the Underworld, containing him inside. He slammed on its side but hissed as its magic affected him and it wouldn't bulge. "Get the exhibits and run!"

Flash nodded and ran to the case, bringing the flashlight down and breaking the glass, setting off the museum's alarms. Just as he was ready to pull some of the shards away so he could grab the items, Hades' out-worldly laugh made the blood in his veins freeze.

Raven's cocoon was dissolved in an instant, as _something_ from its inside shot outside, hitting the sorceress straight on the chest. Flash, instinctively, caught her before she crashed on the wall, placed her down and turned, within a split second, to run to the case but some sort of _energy_ seemed to surround it. Flash recognized it from somewhere and then it hit him; Zatanna's videocall.

Wide-eyed, he turned to Hades. The stolen ring looked like it had been smashed under the tires of a truck and the vial was nothing more than dust on Hades' palm. His devilish grin seemed to tie it all together perfectly. Flash tried to approach the case no matter what was around it, but as soon as he came into contact with the soul, he felt as if the air had been sucked from inside him. A small swish of Hades' hand later, Flash was pushed to the wall and fell to the ground, unable to move. His mind seemed to be having particular trouble focusing on anything.

He did hear Zatanna's voice though, and that helped him a lot. He managed to open his eyes and watch as Zatanna tirelessly shot magic attacks and hexes and spells towards Hades. He had no problem repelling all of them with those vibrating masses of energy; in fact, he seemed to be enjoying it.

"It's pointless, witch!" Hades said. "Your magic is now useless against me!"

Zatanna didn't bother answering his retorts. She only needed to find one opening through the souls' orbit around him and he would be incapacitated again. But he was too good and this energy was too strong. She only hoped Fate would manage to be there soon, after she had given him the new information she had found. They didn't have any more time.

And indeed, Hades, back-stepping, easily managed to approach the case before Zatanna could do anything and with a loud bang of his fist, almost everything was broken.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

More relaxed than before, Diana stirred the dark fluid inside the chalice and smiled; she had taken courage from revisiting all of her memories again. And as she prepared herself to take a sip, she didn't feel so alone. She had people waiting for her, always by her side; an Amazonian Queen, a Kryptonian with the heart of a child, a brooding billionaire with unfinished business with her, a talented witch that loved vests, a ginger prankster and so many more. If not for her, she had to do it for them.

She brought it to her lips and hesitantly dipped her tongue inside; it was cool but tasteless. She didn't feel any different at first and then it hit her. It felt as if she had been put under an ice-cold shower; she couldn't move, she couldn't think, she could do absolutely nothing as it made her numb. The sensation started from her head and spread throughout her body, as the hair on her every inch was raised.

For some time, and as always she couldn't tell how much time, she stayed like this. Her mind was totally blank, no thoughts could be found anywhere, no memories, not anything. And then little by little, memories started coming back but she didn't seem able to…keep them, to catch them. They came and they left and Diana tried hard to make them stay, but she couldn't. Until she saw a pair of dark eyes and felt the brush of a pair of lips onto hers as the image of a colourful diner faded around her. And she finally held onto it. She couldn't lose it, she knew it was too precious. And then a name came along, and a war setting, and the betrayal of a friend, and the forming of an alliance, and her island, until one by one, all of the pieces of her mind fell back into their place.

She turned to Haros to thank him; his idea had worked perfectly. But before she could usher a word, she felt as if someone had kicked her right in the stomach. Something was seriously wrong.

Instinctively, she jumped up and flew to the Realms, with Haros on her six. She stood in front of the Lingering, touching the thin veil that separated the two dimensions.

"What's wrong, Princess?" Haros asked.

Diana frowned and panted. She felt as if something had been stolen from her, or as if a small part of her had been ripped away. And then she knew. "Souls. There are souls being manipulated _elsewhere_."

"You mean-"

"Hades. He somehow got souls. And not the one I sent my friends. He has-" she flinched, "ten of them. But these souls were not here when I came. What is going on, Haros?!"

"Master Hades would get this disturbances too whenever some necromancers practiced their craft back in their day. Maybe this is something similar. Maybe the Guardian knows whenever souls are not used by him. Or her in our case now."

"And what did he do about it?!" Diana urged.

"He started being more careful with the escaping souls and then necromancers also stopped…existing I suppose. I do not believe there is much you can do from here. It shall stop soon, do not worry."

No. Diana knew this was not random. Hades didn't just call for ten souls that he found, somehow, for no reason. Something was going on and if her hunch was right, her own people were under huge risk.

"I have to talk to them!" Diana yelled, tugging on her hair, frantically looking around for a solution. "Haros, bring the hyalon to Acheron. Fast!"

Haros bowed lightly and Diana braced herself. What she had managed to perform so far was of little importance. She had to go all out for the hyalon to work; or to make it work, more likely.

What Haros watched approach was a worrisome sight; it was Diana alright, but her whole being was oozing with soul energy. So much, that it almost felt like she was vibrating. Flashes of bright light ran on her armour, that served as the soul vessel, and that was currently holding a lot. Her steps were heavy, her movements rigid, her eyes pitch black. But when she spoke, it was still her.

"Be ready to throw me inside Acheron the moment I'm done." She ordered. "Make me drink some and don't be fazed by whatever I do now."

Haros simply nodded and handed her the hyalon. It knew that she meant business and no words would change her mind.

Diana held the hyalon tightly, as she summoned a soul on the tip of her fingers and ran it around the circumference of the mirror. The surface activated; the small waves grew bigger and bigger until they smoothed away and Iris appeared on the other side, ready to reprimand her for calling again, but remaining silent upon seeing Diana's state.

"I would like to make an urgent call." Diana said, as calmly as possible.

Iris' sparkling eyes scanned the Amazon Princess as she weighed her options. "You…you are not an Olympian, I cannot-"

"Perhaps I didn't make myself clear the first time." Diana interrupted, as a soul layer coated her hands and covered the entire mirror. Haros watched, in his silent awe, as the souls seemed to easily penetrate whatever reality separated Iris and Diana and approached the godly messenger through the other side, wrapping around her neck. "I am Hades' daughter and you will convey my message, unless you want to get a true taste of what our…family power holds for puny beings like yourself."

Iris seemed to suffocate, pointlessly trying to grab whatever strangled her. Left without choice, she nodded frantically. Diana smiled coldly, withdrawing the souls to the armour.

"You will find Bruce Wayne, son of Thomas and Martha Wayne of Gotham. And this is the message you shall convey."

Haros counted the words anxiously. Many of his duplicates had gathered around. Once Diana was done reciting her message, they were ready to throw her inside the Acheron waters and rid her of the armour's soul cargo at once. The more she stayed in that state, the worse it would be. For all of them.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Flash felt really bad for himself; he was feeling so unbelievably weak. His limbs wouldn't obey him, his eyelids could barely open a bit and his mind was a mess. But no one bothered with him now, of course. As they shouldn't.

Raven had pulled herself up again and aided Zatanna in…practically defending themselves. Hades had broken the case and so much more of his magic energy, souls, Flash recalled, had been released. He was laughing frantically. The witches exchanged a few words as, he guessed, they decided on a common course of action.

The whole room was engulfed by a very bright light, as Dr. Fate made his appearance between Zatanna and Raven, aiding their attempts to keep Hades at bay. His magic seemed to be more efficient in keeping some of Hades' down but the God of the Underworld remained unfazed. They couldn't touch him.

Fate grabbed his left wrist with his right hand and something like what Hades had earlier conjured emerged in front of him. With the skill of an expert, Fate guided his captured soul against Hades', trying to make an opening for Zatanna or Raven to hit, but Hades' seemed to be too much against only one of his.

When Hades realized what was happening anyway, he growled. Although he knew he had more than enough power to kill all of them now, he still was under the terms of the stupid deal. But not for long. If the humans had mustered enough strength and knowledge to manipulate a soul, it wouldn't take long for them to cooperate with his insolent daughter again, and bring more souls to their side. And so Hades had to hurry. He was getting close. There was no way the humans would have enough time to do anything about him, but the sooner he was done, the better. And so, taking the souls with him, he disappeared. His job was done for the night.

Zatanna ran to Flash. "Are you okay?"

"I think I need to rest?" Flash mumbled.

"We both got hit by the souls." Raven said. "I'm more resilient, thanks to Trigon demon genes, but that sort of energy can be very damaging to humans. We need to be more careful."

"What happened?!" Flash asked, as Zatanna helped him sit.

"The objects that Hades was after, were something like a soul reservoir, made by necromancers in the good old days. It's no wonder he wanted them. They're his basic and best weapon."

"But…Fate?"

Dr. Fate showed him a gold bracelet on his left wrist. "I engraved the soul Wonder Woman gave us on this and I can now use it. Hades needed to break the old vessels, the exhibits, because he wasn't the one to have engraved them in the objects."

"Too much magic stuff. Too much."

"He'll need to put them somewhere, though." Raven said. "We need to be alert. And train more. We could barely stand our ground tonight."

"This is an emergency." Zatanna said. "I'm calling in a summit and we can take it from there. Now let's get Flash back to the Tower, he needs to be checked."

 ***Hades is finally getting stronger on Earth ^^ Next chapter, Batman receives his message and a new course of action is set, but Diana's getting worse and worse each day as the end approaches. Thank you for tagging along, this chapter had more…action, let's say, to move the plot forward. It needed to be done, sorry for any typos and thank you reading, again. See you at 12.***


	12. 12 - Monster Mail

***Thank you for tagging along so far, dear readers, and for supporting this fic in general. I hope you're all satisfied. Please take a few seconds to fav/follow/review, they always make my day. See you at the end and don't mind any typos!***

 **CHAPTER TWELVE – MONSTER MAIL**

Bruce was sitting at the steering wheel of the BatJet. He was itching to get to the museum. Something was going on, and something major, but Zatanna had been clear; non-magic people would jeopardize the situation more than helping out. He had no reason not to believe her, but that didn't mean he liked it.

He watched outside, at the dark inside of the Cave. The waterfall covering the exit sparkled under the moonlight and for one moment he thought he saw something more than just sparkles. And truly, upon a second look, he saw a small rainbow form out of some droplets and for some reason, he smiled to himself. His frown returned almost instantly, however, as from where the rainbow had emerged, a winged creature emerged and flew straight to the BatJet.

It was a womanly figure. Not too tall, not too short, with small, beady eyes and hair long and colorful, truly colorful. She was wearing a luxurious tunic and held a caduceus. She stood in front of the Jet, patting her foot impatiently. She looked decisive, but worried. "Come forth, Bruce Wayne, son of Thomas and Martha Wayne of Gotham. I bring you a message." She called, in Greek, and he tensed up.

Bruce cautiously exited the BatJet and approached. The rainbow, the wings, the set-up; she was _ancient_ and definitely not human. "Are you Iris?" He asked in his broken Greek accent.

 _(A/N: Imagine the following discussion to be in Greek. I don't want to write it in Greek and then translate it underneath, it'd be very tiring for you to read. If you have read any of my other fanfics, you know I always take as granted that Bruce knows Greek. Understands it much better than he speaks it, of course.)_

"Yes, and I bring you a message from Diana, daughter of Hades and H-"

"Diana?! Is she well?"

Iris brought one hand to her neck and rubbed it. "Yes, why would that monster not be?" She snapped and he frowned. Monster? "Let us be quick about this now. I shall recite the message intact.

"The fact that none of your souls have come here so far makes me hope that you fended off Hades effectively for now. Whatever you're doing, stop it. Do _not_ chase him, do _not_ push him. He is far more dangerous now that he has souls to command. If possible, just prevent him from finding more. I will not send more souls your way, it's too risky now, unless our magicians have made a breakthrough that will help us ensure Hades will not get his hands on them. I must be the one to face him. I'm becoming stronger and I _will_ bring him back. Focus on finding a way to open the Gate before he does, because I think that is his next step. I'll be as ready as I can be. Take care of yourself, please, and don't worry about me."

"Can you give her a message back?" Bruce asked immediately, once she was done. There was so much to take into; Hades with souls, the Gate, her new powers. Where could he even begin?

Iris gave him an angry look. "No! Obeying bare humans?! Who do you think you are?!"

"You did bring me _her_ message just now."

Iris took a slow step towards him and spoke through her teeth. "If you think _she_ 's human, to any degree by now, you're sadly mistaken, Bruce Wayne."

Bruce gave her a good look, trying to make sense. "Explain."

Iris smirked at him. "Poor human man. You remember, I am guessing, the clear blue eyes, the hearty smile, the glowing skin. How sad."

"How is she?! Speak!" Bruce urged, starting to lose his patience.

"She is her father's daughter alright." Iris gave him an evil smile and stepped backwards, fluttering her wings and taking off on a rainbow ray. Bruce watched her go defeated; he knew he couldn't get his way with those godly creatures that easily.

With his heart racing, he ran back to the Jet, only to receive a message, addressed to all of them, by Zatanna, asking for an urgent meeting. The Jet's engine roared.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

"Before we continue," Batman said once Raven and Zatanna had finished describing the events in great detail and making clear to everybody that Hades was now in possession of a decent amount of souls, "I have some more information to share."

"And you waited for an urgent summit to do so?" Hawkgirl asked, crossing her arms.

"I _just_ had a visit before being summoned here." Batman replied.

"By whom?" Superman asked.

"By Iris."

"Iris who?" Green Lantern asked.

"Iris, the godly messenger of the ancient Greeks."

"Ugh, Amazons, Hades, the Underworld, now Iris. Are we just actors in a Homeric play?"

"And what did she say?!" Superman insisted. "Did Diana-"

"Yes. She was conveying a message from Wonder Woman, though she refused to convey one from me back to her. I'm too human for her standards."

"…I wonder what this says about Wonder Woman's human status." Hawkgirl said.

"Give us the message first." Superman said and Batman nodded.

"It was in Greek, so I'll give you the gist. Diana could tell, from down there, that Hades found some souls."

"Interesting." Zatanna said.

"She also understood than none got fatally hurt because she didn't see any of our souls. So from that we can at least tell that our souls are recognizable. Now, after that, she…gave us some instructions."

"Instructions?" Superman asked, baffled. "As in, a solid plan?!"

"Not quite. But she said to stop chasing Hades as soon as possible, he is far too dangerous now."

"I second that." Zatanna said. "We don't know what he can do with the souls."

"She will stop sending us souls until we find a way to make sure we get them, and not Hades."

"Under no circumstances should he find more." Green Lantern added.

"Exactly." Batman said. "She suggested preventing him from finding more instead of trying to get him. She also said we should focus on opening the Gate."

"Hard task." Raven said. "We've tried."

"Well, we'll concentrate more." Superman said.

"We will." Batman said. "Wonder Woman believes it's what he will attempt next. But she wants to face him, said she has been getting stronger."

"How on Earth will she be able to face him all alone?" Hawkgirl said. "With the souls unleashed like that, not even three of our magicians could faze him."

"She must know something more than us to say that." Martian Manhunter said. "Wonder Woman is confident in her abilities, but not naïve. If she says she can defeat him, she has to have something else."

"Iris called her a monster." Batman said, catching everybody's attention. "When confronted about it, she only had to say that Diana is in fact her father's daughter."

Zatanna rubbed her temples with the tips of her fingers. "This could mean so many things! Ugh! I don't know if I'm happy that she called her a monster, or scared to bits."

"Happy?!" Superman said. "This is serious! An ancient goddess called our Diana a monster. A monster! She's been down there for too long. We _need_ to get her out."

"Yes, Superman! The fact that an ancient goddess called _our Diana_ a monster, probably means that _our Diana_ can scare her, which means she has gotten really strong, which means she might stand a chance against Hades! But I'm not happy about what she possibly had to do to get there, alright?!" Zatanna defended herself.

Superman sighed. "Sorry for snapping at you. I'm just really worried."

"We all are." Green Lantern said. "That is why we need to be more efficient now, more than ever. Action plan?"

"Dr. Fate, is there any way to use your soul to trace others?" Martian Manhunter asked.

"I have yet to test it out. This new magic form might hold many new capabilities." The wizard replied.

"Test it out tomorrow. We need to see how we can find any other soul vessels before Hades. Zatanna and Raven, you continue your research on that matter."

"What about the Gate?" Hawkgirl asked. "From what I got, it's what Wonder Woman needs us to do the most."

"We already know that brute strength and magic don't work." Batman said. "Our best hope now seems to be the soul Fate has."

"We'll test it out alongside the soul-tracking, then." Zatanna said. "How did we end up with most of the homework again?" She smiled, easing up the tension in the room.

"How's Flash, by the way?" Hawkgirl asked.

"Stable." Martian Manhunter said. "His contact was not prolonged so he'll be fine if he just rests for a while."

"Let's have new patrols at the Gate." Superman said. "We can do nothing but trust Diana at this point."

"We need more magical orbs. Just in case." Hawkgirl said. "It's the only thing we can kind of use for now."

Raven nodded. "I'll get to it straight away."

"You'll have the patrol shifts handed out tomorrow." Martian Manhunter said. "We're putting everyone on high-alert for Hades." They all nodded in concern, lost in their own thoughts.

Superman gave Batman a good look. The Gotham vigilante was very good in maintaining a straight face with an unreadable expression in front of everyone. But he knew him too well to understand that he was far from calm and far from his usual self, even in times of crisis.

As everyone got up to leave the room, Superman turned to Batman. "Can I have a word?"

Bruce saw Zatanna give him a sad look as she left and nodded to Superman. He knew what this was about.

"Is that all Iris said?" Clark said, taking a seat by him.

"Yes. Diana was concise."

"And what do you think her new strength is? Because it _is_ something new."

"I have some ideas. But is this really what you wanted to ask?"

Clark half-smiled. "I'm just checking up on you. I know this has been quite heavy on both of us and I think you might have been taking this a bit too personally, so, as your friend, I'm worried."

"I don't need you worrying about me. Worry about her better."

"Oh, I do. But you've been doing the biggest share of that one, I believe."

Bruce simply sighed and closed his eyes, pressing the bridge of his nose. "Is this talk going somewhere?"

"I think you're feeling too responsible, Bruce. You always had that tendency, but-"

"I am responsible. It was my mistake that she-"

Clark rolled his eyes. "Went alone to Themyscira? Is that it?"

"It was clear protocol, and I, mistakenly, decided to listen to her."

Clark grinned. "She can be very persuasive, I know. But even if you had gone with her, nothing would have changed. We are all fairly powerless against Hades' dead magic and if I recall correctly, he did use it to defend against the Amazons and Diana, did he not?"

Bruce nodded. "The Underworld was still his, even though he was out, so he could do whatever he wanted with the dead. According to Hippolyta's account of his words, the moment he locked Diana inside, she became the Guardian and the souls he had gotten out were immediately retracted before the Gate closed after her."

"This is why he's looking for souls left behind now that the Gate is closed again. But, this is not what I wanted to talk about. My point is, you being there would not have made any difference. Hades had been planning this, none of us could have prevented it."

"Maybe."

Clark rolled his eyes. "Stop beating yourself over this, please. We need you to be at your top shape when the time comes."

"I will be."

"I hope so, because I have a feeling that…it's drawing closer."

Bruce gave Clark a good look. Though the Kryptonian was trying to keep a pleasant composure in order to cheer him up, his eyes betrayed how truly concerned he was. Clark was naturally a caring person and maybe this was indeed too much, even for him as well.

"Still thinking about the 'monster', are you?"

Clark nodded. "Diana was never a monster. She was an angel."

"An angel might look like a monster to demons, though."

Clark raised an eyebrow. "I hadn't thought of it this way. But you're right. It's still our Diana, she even found a way to send us a proper message. I will have faith in her."

"As you should."

"As we all should, Bruce."

Bruce nodded and got up. "I'll catch you later."

"Sure thing, I'll go check on Flash."

Bruce hastily made his way to his Jet. He didn't believe what he told Clark; he just said it to ease his friend's mind. Just like he told him back, they needed all of them to be on top shape for when the time comes. But Iris was no demon and her words were too specific; if anything, Diana no longer had bright blue eyes, a hearty smile or glowing skin. And that terrified Bruce to no extent, but there was no use in terrifying anyone else along. This was his burden to carry, and his burden only.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Haros had been quick in submerging Diana into Acheron and watching a stampede of souls return to their Realm. Diving after her, it pulled her jaw just a little, so that she could drink some of the cleansing liquid and then let her body drift the shore, where she calmly lay for some amount of time.

After regaining her senses, she had remained awfully silent. Haros feared she might have drunk a little more than she should, but Diana just kept on performing the Guardian duties in an eerie silence that didn't suit her. She answered to whatever Haros asked, but not in her usual manner. A good while passed before signs of her personality started re-emerging and Haros could finally relax; she was well.

Most of her time she seemed to be spending in front of the Resting Realm, with Steve Trevor's soul hovering in front of her. She smiled to herself while sitting there, and Haros wondered if the two could have been having some sort of...wordless conversation. Its curiosity got its best out of it in the end, and so Haros approached Diana, sitting by her side.

"Might I interest you in some verbal communication, Princess? Not to insult this soul's communicative skills, of course."

Diana huffed. "Steve helps me remember who I really am."

"Having doubts?" Haros observed her closely. Her armour was shining, loaded with some souls and Haros wondered what their purpose was.

"Doubts…yes. There's some decisions to be made."

"Can I be of any assistance?"

"Not now, no. But thank you for coming anyways."

"At your service. Were you practising?"

Diana shook her head. "It just feels…better to be charged. Makes me feel stronger." She flashed him a mysterious smile, that Haros didn't know what to make of. "It's like training with weights attached on your body. It helps you."

Haros remained silent for some time before speaking again. "Are you feeling well, Princess?"

Diana inhaled deeply, the corners of her lips slightly raised, never taking her eyes away from the Realm in front of her. "Yes, I'm feeling fine. I _am_ getting stronger. I can't wait till Hades is just an ant beneath my boot, begging for me not to crash him." She let out a laugh that Haros had never heard from her before; it almost sounded menacing, maybe too much like how Hades would once sound before fighting or when his plans were put to action. But her laugh was cut short.

Diana didn't know where that joy from thinking of overpowering Hades, and everyone really, stemmed from. This wasn't her; but…what if it was? What if this was the new her? One part of her enjoyed this new thirst for power; it had been a long time since she last felt this thrill. But the rest of her was mortified; where was her will to fight for justice? For forgiveness? For love? Was it still there? All these questions ran furiously through her mind but one seemed to prevail over all. What about her happiness?

"Oh, boy…" She let her head fall on her knees and sighed. "I deserve to be happy, Haros."

"Of course you do." Haros agreed, not knowing what string of thoughts led her there. "What makes you want to point it out?"

"Because I am going crazy." Diana replied, stressing every word. "And I need to know why I am doing everything I'm doing. I need to keep telling myself. I don't really know what will make me happy, but I know it's up there, and not down here."

"Hardly anything can be found for mortals down here, I understand that. But do you feel like you are losing focus and are having these thoughts now?"

Diana nodded. "I need to do it for the right reasons."

"Do what, Princess?"

She took a long breath. "Push myself to be stronger." She smiled at Steve's soul. "I need to do it for my happiness and my people, not because it feels good to be stronger than others. I need to remember who I am."

"You have me for that." Haros said, stretching his hand out. "If you ever forget, I have all of your memories here."

Diana gave him one of her hearty smiles. "Thank you, my friend. So, do you think you can help me with some exercises?"

"My sole purpose of existence is to serve the Guardian, is it not?" Haros said and Diana was sure it would smile if it could.

She got up and placed her hands on her hips. "Alright. I'm going to load myself again. More than I did the last time, and try launching a solid attack. I have no target, but I want to see if I can do it anyways."

"And I'll push you inside Acheron when you're done?"

"Yes."

Several Haros-es gathered at the shore. This Haros stayed put and watched as Diana prepared herself.

She concentrated first; took a few deep breaths and placed herself in front of the Lingering Realm. Haros supposed she would get Thomas and Martha Wayne out first, since those two souls were her 'favourites' in a way, but considering her armour was already loaded, those two must have already been inside.

Diana kept drawing souls out at a steady pace and placing them in her armour and on herself. Haros noticed how it was progressively getting harder as she charged, until she started shaking and that vibrating aura she had the last time made her appearance once again. She gritted her teeth but kept on going; Haros stopped counting after the three hundredth soul, as Diana's eyes turned black and so did the tips of her fingers. Ignoring her panting, ignoring her sweat, ignoring her hair now whipping around, she went on until she felt she had enough.

Haros followed her from a distance to Acheron. Her movements were once again slow, but she fought hard to make them not as rigid and hard as before. Some determined steps later, she was at Acheron and turned to look at Haros. It nodded at her and she moved her dark gaze to the horizon.

"I'm going to give it all I've got in just one shot." She said, in a voice that little resembled what she usually sounded like. "Throw me in after that."

She huffed and stepped steadily, curling her hands into fists and then relaxing them. She stretched them both out and after three short and hollow breaths, she let out a scream and a beam from pure soul energy shot from her hands, over the surface of Acheron, splitting the black water into two, as huge waves disturbed the otherwise calm scenery.

Haros marvelled at the size of the ray and the brunt it seemed to be carrying. Diana's feet were strongly etched to the ground, her heels burying deep into the soil to balance the ray's kickback out. In a while, after the ray started thinning out and when the last bit was out, Diana fell to her knees. The Acheron waters united once again and five Haros-es picked her up and gently submerged her inside, making sure her jaw would be slightly open. The hundreds of souls she had unleashed came furiously back the way she had shot them, as if their Realm sucked them inside and Haros dreaded to think how those would act up on Earth.

When she was washed out again and rested, she lazily opened her eyes and mumbled "That was okay I think."

"Well, I wouldn't want to be on its opposite side. And neither would anyone else, I believe."

Diana smiled genuinely and helped herself up, rubbing her brassards. "Let's get some fuel back in this baby now.."

She was satisfied with the launch but what she could do, Hades could do ten times better. So, it still wasn't enough; but she would get there. First, she thought, she needed to move faster when charged if she ever wanted to stand a fighting chance.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Bruce lazily opened his eyes, to face the dimly-lit interior of his bedroom; the sun hadn't risen yet. He turned to his other side, only to see Diana, beautiful as ever, lying next to him and smiling.

He furiously pulled himself up. "Diana? What are you doing here? How-"

"Hush." Diana made him stop, placing her pointer over his lips. "It doesn't matter how, don't you want me here?"

For some reason, though he knew it was wrong, Bruce could mutter no words. In fact, he could nothing. Her sight and her presence had rendered him completely powerless. And there she was, coming closer.

Putting on some tremendous effort, he took his eyes off her face and saw that everything else inside his room had been wrecked; the furniture was broken, the carpets were ripped, the curtains were cut to shreds and his parents' portrait was destroyed; their faces were scratched beyond recognition.

Before he could react, or make sense of what was going on, Diana kissed him and he…he hugged her. Strongly, bringing her even closer, holding her so that she may never leave again. But her hands were soon around his neck, suffocating him. His eyes shot open as she pushed him down with a force he didn't expect. But she was not Diana anymore; her hands had claws and she was huge. In the darkness and through the thick, black fur that covered the creature that replaced Diana, he saw a pair of bright red eyes and heard a laugh that made his blood freeze. He struggled to escape but in vain; his air was growing thinner by the second until he finally blacked out as the creature's hot breath drew closer.

And his eyes shot open again when something cold hit his face and he almost fell from his chair as Alfred threw him a cloth to wipe himself. He had fallen asleep in the Bat Cave.

"A nightmare, I reckon?" Alfred asked.

Bruce wiped his face and nodded. "Why did you throw water at me?!"

"You wouldn't wake up otherwise, sir. I tried shouting, shaking you, slapping you." Bruce shot him a stern look. "But you were so involved in whatever you were seeing. Judging from your expressions, you were not enjoying it."

"It was just a dream."

Alfred nodded. "You need some proper sleep, Master Bruce. It is the second time this week that I've found you asleep here at random times. You are overexerting yourself again."

"There's too much to be done."

"You are not alone, sir. So, take my old, wise advice and let the other Leaguers handle some more than they do now."

"They have a lot on their plates, Alfred. We have to get Diana back, my sleep is a small sacrifice."

Alfred sighed and rolled his eyes. "When did you ever listen to me to start listening now…So, how is it going?"

"She sent us a message with some instructions. We just need to find a way to put them into action."

"She…sent. A message. From the Underworld."

"Via a godly messenger. Who called her a monster."

Alfred's eyebrows shot up. "The messenger called Princess Diana a monster?! That is unheard of!"

Bruce nodded, liking how Alfred completely disregarded the messenger and its godly nature, only to take offence in the fact that someone had the nerve to call his beloved Princess a monster. "I don't know what to make of it. And…my nightmare was about this, actually."

"I should have known. You rarely get so disturbed about other things. Or _anything else,_ nowadays. But, sir, if I were you, I'd pay little attention to that. If Princess Diana cared enough to message you, how much of a monster can she be? That messenger was clearly clueless."

Bruce shrugged. "She may be a monster physically or metaphorically. I don't know which one is worse."

"Regardless, you're paying too much attention to the messenger and not the message. The Princess is in the message, and not in whatever the messenger thinks." Bruce nodded. "Now, I don't think you need me any more down here. Please come eat dinner, it's getting cold."

With that, Alfred took his leave and Bruce sighed, checking his monitors and seeing that nothing new had presented. That moment, Dick* descended the stairs and approached him, a lollipop in his mouth.

"I slept for at least six hours, so I guess I am ready for my nightshift. How are you holding up?"

"Can't remember the last time I slept six hours straight."

"…Can I maybe take some more shifts for you? I can run your controls in your place as well, no need for you to waste time in front of the computers."

"It's fine, there's not much I'll be doing from now on anyways."

Dick nodded. "Diana's message, yes. It's practically a dead-end."

"We just have to wait for the sorcerers to come up with something."

"Perfect time for you to get some sleep then! Although, I do understand. Twenty four hours are hardly enough for us to get things done in a day!" He laughed. "Too bad there isn't a mini time-stop machine sometimes. Six hours could turn to twelve so easily…"

Bruce nodded sadly. "Let's go get our dinner now. Alfred is right, I need to sleep, and you are right, it is the perfect time since I can't do much." _And it's Diana's wish; to take care of myself,_ Bruce thought, trying to forget about his dream and focus on his own, personal, true memories of the Amazonian Princess.

Dick was very bubbly that afternoon and Bruce was weirdly thankful for that; he had missed a cheerful talk, though he didn't participate in it much. The meal Alfred had prepared was delicious and they all ate more than they usually did.

"I should _not_ eat this much before a night shift!" Dick said. "I can hardly walk!"

Alfred smiled under his moustache. "I am even undoing my belt, an obvious sign that we overdid it tonight."

And then Bruce had an epiphany.

"Dick, what do you know about the Chronos belt?"

 *** Dick is Nightwing, the first Robin. He was not included in the JL/JLU but I have him in all of my ffics because I really like him, like some other characters for the sake of the story, like Raven. ^^ Don't mind it too much.**

 **Thank you for sticking around, more interesting stuff coming next chapter!***


	13. 13 - Forwards and Backwards

***A/N: Hello dear readers! Thank you all so much for your kind words, I take all your commentary into consideration and try to make my stories better. For a fanfic that began on a completely random and shapeless idea, I'd say it's been coming along rather nicely so far. I hope this chapter is of your liking as well. The events I refer to in this chapter are from the episodes 'The Once and Future Thing', 'Paradise Lost', 'Hereafter' and a little bit from 'The Balance' (whose Underworld portrayal this fanfic has overridden) if you want to take a closer look and understand some of the events better. See you at the end!***

 **CHAPTER THIRTEEN – FORWARDS AND BACKWARDS**

Dick looked at Bruce with disbelief. "Of all the ideas in the world, _time travel_ is the one you came up with?!"

Bruce shrugged. "It seems to me like the only solution."

"Solution? This is madness!"

"For once, young sir, we agree." Alfred said, shooting Bruce an angry look. "Sense has _really_ abandoned the Wayne household, it seems."

"There is no other way to open the Gate." Bruce stated calmly. "The key cannot be reconstructed, since it disintegrated the moment Diana smashed it. So, if we want to get that key, we must go back, before it was broken, before Felix Faust went to Themyscira, gather the pieces and bring it back to present."

"As simple as one, two, three!" Dick said, cupping his face with his hands. "And to think that you were the one telling me no one should ever meddle with time. Isn't this why you trapped the maker of the Chronos Belt in his endless loop in the first place?"

"I do believe that time is not to be meddled with. But this is a particular situation. We need to act."

Dick sighed and looked at Bruce. To think that he was willing to go to such extremes to rescue Wonder Woman… But again, Dick thought, Bruce would do whatever it took to save any person he held dear, no matter how indifferent he tried to present himself to the rest of the world. And Dick was sure, even more than for Bruce, that Diana would have done exactly the same to rescue Bruce, were the situations reversed. Dick promised himself that if they ever managed to get Diana back and Bruce went back to his old antics of 'she is a prestigious colleague and dear friend', he would personally go and confess his true feelings in his stead, because it was really getting tiring.

"Fine. Fine! I'll help you. Anything for Diana, eh?" He gave him a wry grin, to which Bruce, surprisingly, responded with a half-smile instead of a scowl.

"Are you serious now?!" Alfred shouted.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

"So, to recapitulate," Clark said, intertwining his fingers, "we must use the ray Toyman had used to send me to the very distant future-"

"After some modifications." Bruce clarified.

"-to get to the future time of David Clinton, maker of the Chronos suit which I first hear of now-"

"You weren't at the mission, but it is fully documented in the League archives."

"-get the Chronos Belt, remove your short-circuit CD from it, use it to eventually get to the past, before Faust froze the Amazons and released Hades, get the key parts, assemble the key and come back to the present, all in one piece."

"Yes. There are also some other parameters of the plan, but I will take care of them."

Clark looked at Bruce for several moments. "We're really that desperate, then."

Bruce shrugged. "I can't find anything else that might work."

Clark nodded. "Okay, Batman. I want to help. Anything you want me to do, I will do. Who else are we going to let in on this?"

Bruce was happy that Clark understood; understood the purpose of the plan, its nature, its…sensitivity. It meant a lot. "J'onn needs to be aware of this, of course. Nightwing already knows. Green Lantern and Zatanna are also trustworthy."

"Yes, at least one of the magicians should know of our plan, just in case. And Flash. He has been more than helpful all this time."

"If he swears to keep his mouth shut. I don't want my sanity questioned by every member of the League."

Clark huffed. "You're right. Let's keep our insanity confined for now."

"Is J'onn here at the Watchtower?"

"Last time I saw him at the dining hall. He's probably still there, let's go find him."

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Diana had allowed herself to take a break. Somewhere between sorting the new souls with Haros and the endless training, although the Underworld physically sustained her perfectly, her mind and her soul were getting tired. Having just finished another round of loading herself and taken a sip of Acheron water to cleanse herself, she lay down at the shore and closed her eyes to rest as her mind was finding its peace.

She remembered the last time something was wrong with the Underworld. The balance between Tartarus and Olympus had been overthrown, all thanks to Faust, and that was the only thing that could get Zeus to bother with this world; his own comfort. Now that the Underworld was stable, regardless if Hades or Diana ruled over it, he didn't bat an eye.

Diana laughed to herself. To think that when she first came to the world of man, she believed in them so much. Zeus, Hera, Athena, all of them, were scams. How could they let their world become such a mess? Diana had seen so many things. So many horrible things, that she couldn't believe in them anymore. Not that they didn't exist, of course, but not to give her strength or help her in any way. Humans were completely on their own.

She remembered in graphic detail how, when the war began and she was just a little girl, she had seen the son of the neighbours next door get shot to death for playing outside. His blood was as red as the ball he was holding. Her mother had snatched her from the window quickly; it took years before she could understand what she had seen. And when they came banging at their door, putting their guns at her father's head and taking him away, she still couldn't understand. Nor did she understand why her mother had fainted after reading a plain old letter that the funny mailman had brought –he wasn't that funny that day- or why her brother never returned again, or why everyone dressed in black after that. She had understood, though, that they could never go back to their home; it was ruined, they told them. That they were lucky to be alive with all those bombs. She didn't know what bombs were up until that moment. But she learnt.

Diana wiped the tears that were running from the corners of her eyes and sat up startled. This was very, very wrong. She had just drank some of that water. Her armour was completely uncharged, and yet she just relived a foreign memory, so vivid and so haunting. This couldn't be good; she shouldn't be having any intrusive memories.

She knelt above the shore and grabbed some water in her hands. She swallowed dryly before taking a big sip; from what it seemed, she needed a higher dosage of soul-antidote now. She sighed and decided to take a dive as well, it always helped her calm herself some more.

She didn't know for how long she was submerged or for how long her mind struggled to keep her memories. When she popped her head out, feeling disoriented but quite herself, she saw Haros on an empty boat. "Let me accompany you to the shore, Princess. That is, if you fancy a boat ride."

Diana gracefully flew out of the water, and landed on the seat opposite of Haros. "Thank you."

"I take it that something happened."

Diana nodded. "I had just cleansed myself and despite that, I had an alien memory invade my mind. I drank some more. Luckily I still seem to be me."

"Maybe your swim helped. But this is a sign, Princess. You're overdoing it."

"Perhaps. But as you saw, I was moving far better than the last time, so that's progress and that means that whatever I'm doing, is working."

Haros kept on rowing silently at its pace without talking, before it finally spoke. "Are all humans this impatient?"

Diana laughed shortly. "The answer to generic questions like this is always 'no', my friend. And, yes, I'm not known for my patience, but for my other virtues. Though, frankly now, this whole experience has given me many new…assets, that I'll probably miss when I return. And it has opened my eyes to many things."

"Care to give me an example?"

Diana turned to face the shore and closed her eyes, stretching her hand out. She focused and soon, a soul was making its way towards them, gliding over the perfectly still waters and coming to Diana's side. Haros recognized the form of Thomas Wayne; many were the times it had seen this soul by her whenever she practised.

"You are calling souls now remotely, I see."

Diana smiled. "Only those I am very connected to. It takes too much concentration."

"And what connects you to this one in particular?"

"I was just about to show you." Diana sighed, placed her hands over her knees and looked out in the horizon. "Up on Earth, there is someone…very special to me. You have met him, he was the stupid man that committed suicide."

"Oh, yes. Then it's safe to assume you're very special to him as well."

She shrugged. "I don't know. He…is hard to approach and read sometimes. I know him very well, but he refuses to accept his feelings, if he has any of that sort, that is, and it has been a dead-end so far. Anyhow, that only matters a little, I care about him very much, either my feelings are mutual or not. And I want the best for him, I want him to be happy. I mean, I wish _I_ could make him happy, but that's for him to decide when I get back." She stretched out her hand. "Take a look for yourself."

Haros touched her hand and she closed her eyes, smiling a little to herself as she replayed her favourite moments for it to see; seeing his dirt-covered hands after attempting to dig her from under a missile, flying with him in her hands, dancing at a gala. "Yes, Princess. I see, I have them all in my 'failsafe'."

She nodded. "But now you know that they are some of my favourites. And this soul right here, is the father of Bruce."

"Yes, I pieced together that much. They look like each other, if I may say."

"Indeed they do. I know I have given you some pieces of Bruce's story to keep in your…archives. You'll know then, that-"

"His parents were murdered in a mugging and Bruce was raised by his butler Alfred. He grew up to be a vigilante to fight crime and seek justice for them."

"Exactly. But I always felt there was something more to the story than he was telling. Of course, even getting this much out of him was a feat on its own so I hardly pressed the matter more."

"Reasonable, I suppose humans dread revisiting the bad times in their lives."

"Or they dwell on them too much. Anyway, through Thomas' memories, I…I found his side of the story. And well…Here."

She stretched her hand out once more, as she looked through the soul's glassy eyes and Haros saw the journey through her. Diana skipped the childhood and went straight for the incident that she had watched over and over again countless times so far.

Bruce got scared with some special-effects bats. Thomas knew his son was terrified of bats ever since they opened that cellar and not wanting him to feel uncomfortable in the least bit while they were out to have fun, they decided to leave the theatre through the back door to be more discrete. A mugger threatened them with his gun in order to take their money and their jewellery. Thomas, furious that he was feeling powerless against a criminal that had his gun so close to everything he held dear, decided to act. But, alas, combat was not his field of expertise and before he knew it, he was on the ground, shot and bleeding, as his wife met the same fate and his son was there to witness it all.

Diana focused on his thoughts and feelings. He was feeling sorry that he failed to protect them and that he wouldn't be there anymore to watch his son grow up. He loved them so much but they were slipping away from him and there was nothing he could do as his life was coming to an end, no matter how he struggled to get back on his feet. And his last thought was, 'what will become of Bruce?'.

"Do you understand, Haros?"

"Such a shame for them to die like that."

"That's not the point. The point is, Bruce feels _responsible_ for their deaths. _He_ got scared and they had to leave. I know, he was a kid, he couldn't have known about the mugger, but that's how he thinks. And I think that he does what he does not only to get justice for his parents by catching criminals, but to…make up for his 'mistake' as well. And he still beats himself up. But it's not helping and he needs to know it. He needs to know that his parents loved him and not even once did they think that it was his fault. Not even for a split second."

"That does sound important."

"It is. Even after all this time, he needs to hear it because…this is also what's keeping them in the Lingering. Both his and Martha's last moments were filled with worry and love for their son. They are still worrying because he is not…settled? Safe? Happy?"

"You also want to help them, then."

Diana nodded. "I feel like I know them. It sounds stupid, but now that I know that I can help them move on, I feel like it's my duty."

"…Truly a Guardian."

She huffed. "I've picked a few things up in this place." With a small motion of her hand, the soul was integrated in her armour.

Their boat reached the shore and Diana got off, stretching. The talk with Haros had been oddly refreshing; she felt more like herself than ever. As she took a couple of steps away, she noticed the hyalon lying a bit further; it _was_ a mirror alright.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

"And why should I help you?" Toyman asked, folding his arms. "What is it in there for me?"

"I don't know, Batman," Clark said, "is he in a position to be negotiating?"

Batman half-smiled, taking a look around the small, cold cell. "Toyman, have you heard of 'Project Ceadas'?"

"Project Ce-what?"

"Mandy-hm, Mrs. Waller has been-"

"Mandy?! Who dares call _her_ that?"

"Someone quite close to her, so don't get on my nerves, scum." Bruce said and Clark huffed.

"…Go on."

"It's Mrs. Waller's _personal_ project. Ceadas was a chasm in Taygetus mountain in the Peloponnese, at the south of Greece. Ancient Spartans would throw babies and children that were sickly, disturbed or deemed useless for society in there, in order to keep it thriving without having anyone holding it back. Now, Mrs. Waller's objective is cleansing society by members beyond any hope of ever being productive or helpful as well."

"Oh, really?" Toyman said ironically. "How delightful."

"Unlike the Spartans, toddlers are not her target. She is director of this prison, after all. And where else could anyone find more creatures known for their desire to cause harm but here? If it still escapes your mind, Toyman, she plans to start cleansing society via this prison _once and for all_."

"We are not on death row, I don't care."

"This is why it's a personal, highly confidential project." Clark said.

"Do you think anyone would care if some of the most dangerous criminals were announced dead every now and then? Would anyone mind about the circumstances of their death?" Bruce went on. "We"-he pointed at Clark and him-"might be against killing, but her…"

"And why should I believe you?"

"Here. A sign of good will, if you want." Clark threw a folder with the red 'Confidential' seal on Toyman's bed and several photos attached to documents slid out. Toyman gathered them in his hands and shuffled through the pages. Bane, Cheetah, E-nigma, Killer Frost and then…his own photo.

"Of course…" Toyman mumbled, reading the notes; psych assessment, Waller's personal input, criminal record, arguments for him being put in the project and against, high-ranking officers' signatures on the lists of the arguments. "I…I really thought this was just something you made up."

"It isn't." Clark said. "You earned your place in that list."

"But you can earn your place out." Bruce said. "Build another one of those rays and Mrs. Waller may reconsider, especially if someone can give a good word for you to her."

Toyman looked at them for some moments, his gaze shifting between them and the floor. "Fine."

"You're coming with us first in the morning tomorrow. Be ready."

"I will."

"Oh, and don't even think of sabotaging the ray." Clark said. "In case we forgot to mention, you'll be coming with us when we use it."

"What?!"

"Do you think we're stupid?" Batman said. "So don't get any ideas."

With that, they signalled the guard outside to let them out, taking the folder with them. As they walked along the corridor of the high-safety prison cells, Clark laughed. "Do you really call her Mandy, though?"

"I still value my life, Superman."

"Thought so. It was a nice addition anyways. He seemed to buy it all. Tell me, what is the true purpose of Project Ceadas?"

"The transfer of those prisoners to a better, hidden-location facility."

"Better than here?!"

"It will be very high-security, with limited positions. I'm sure there will be plenty of other…projects being run at that facility, but that is not of our concern."

Clark shrugged and they kept walking. Bruce turned his head looked straight at one of the surveillance cameras, nodding very, very subtly.

Up in the administration offices, Amanda Waller took a look at her monitors and shook her head, half-smiling. She placed Toyman's documents at the end of the Ceadas candidates' pile. Toyman was only an ant compared to Hades who was running wild, as her sources confirmed. Wonder Woman had to come back at all costs, especially when that meant that Hades would be back in his hole for good.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Diana stared at her reflection for a good while, not knowing what to make of it. It had been a long time since she last bothered checking her appearance. She didn't know how many days had passed up on Earth but she knew that this was not how she was supposed to look like.

Her hair had grown very long, in an untamed manner. Her eyes looked sullen, deep into their dark sockets and she was horrified to notice the white of her eyes turning black at the edges, like the corners of her mouth too. Her skin had a greyish, sickly tone and her lips had long abandoned their normal pink hue, giving way to a deep purple color, almost as if she had been choking. At the points where her armour touched her torso and her collarbones, black lines, like chasms, crawled on her skin. She ran a finger on them and felt the familiar warmth of the soul energy running beneath them.

With her hands shaking, she let the hyalon back on the ground and turned to the Haros closest to her. "I think I'm dying."

"You are most certainly not, Princess." Haros reassured her. "The Underworld sustains your life perfectly, you cannot die while being the Guardian, inside of here."

"Then what is this?" She asked, touching her lip corner with a trembling finger and caressing her collarbones.

"Oh, that. This is just the result of your ongoing training. The physical manifestation of your magic usage."

"Does it…go away?"

"I suppose it will fade if you stop."

Diana sighed. "I see… And how do I look when I charge? I guess I didn't focus enough on my reflection when I contacted Iris." She gave Haros a weak smile.

Haros pondered its reply for a moment, knowing in the end, that it would just have to tell the truth as it was. "You look…radiant. With soul energy. Your hair looks like tentacles, your eyes turn totally black, like your hands and I'd also guess your feet through the armour. The magic lines you see now, shine, expanding even more for all the while you remain loaded. Then they fade back to this permanent indent they have left, that you see now."

Diana tried to picture it. She imagined she looked more than a demon than her Amazon self, but she couldn't stop now. No matter what the toll was, she had to continue. And shrugging it off the only way she knew, she joked. "Okay, the moment I start growing fur, claws and a triple tongue, I'll draw the line and stop."

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Batman was overseeing every step of Toyman's process. They had provided him every material he had asked and his workplace-cell was monitored from every angle. Toyman had no idea how he had created a future-transfer beam in the first place, so Batman figured asking him for help on how to properly work this thing would be fruitless.

He had gathered, however, all the specifics of the first launch on Superman; the power of the beam, the amount of energy, the time of his exposure, and by watching Toyman work, Batman slowly started to understand how it operated. At least he hoped. Having meticulously studied the amount of mass that the ray had transported to the future alongside Superman back when he had studied the circumstances of his 'death', and the overall surface it had affected, Batman was able to come up with an initial algorithm for the beam's function.

Flash had entered the monitor room with a big cola drink in hand, sipping loudly. "Sup, Bats? What can I help you with today?"

"I am starting to decipher Toyman's invention. We should be able to launch soon enough."

Sensing the tone of Batman's voice, Flash frowned. "…But?"

"I have no way of knowing how accurate my calculations will be."

"So…we won't know how far from our destination time we'll land."

"Correct."

Flash nodded. When Superman had first shared their plan with him, under full secrecy, Flash knew that he should be the one to carry it through. It might have been Batman's radical idea, but only Flash had at least a theoretical way of coming back by running through time and space if everything went horribly wrong. Plus, from what Batman had explained about Chronos' situation, they only had a time frame of a few seconds to work on getting the belt, removing the CD and going back, so Flash felt like this mission had his name written all over it.

He knew it would be risky and he understood what Batman wanted to say now. If the calculations were not one hundred percent correct, and knowing that they would probably set it at a lower point instead of a higher –it'd be better to arrive before the time David was short-circuited, rather than afterwards, Batman practically asked if he'd be willing to live some time, days, weeks, months, even some years, in the future time, in order to reach the exact moment.

"I'm still in." Flash said, taking a sip. "When I said I would do it, I meant it. I know it might not work, I know I'm putting my ass on the line, but I'm not backing down. Diana would not back down when it would come to saving any of us, and neither should we."

"You'll have to-"

"Don't sweat. It'd be actually pretty cool to live in the future for a while. Don't worry about it."

Batman nodded and turned to the monitors again. "I am coming with you."

"No you're not." Flash said strongly. "It's already enough risking one of us, don't you think?"

"This is a special mission."

"Yes, that I can handle perfectly on my own. You'd slow me down, Bats! And we need you here to coordinate the rest of the mission. Once I get the belt here, we can all go back to get the pieces. Till then, and I insist, I'm going alone. Show some trust in me."

"I do trust you."

"Then it's settled!" Flash grinned widely. "Now, how does this thing work?"

"The most plausible theory is-"

"I don't really like how it's starting, but go on."

"Superman was hit by a considerably big amount of energy and was transported, according to Vandal Savage, thirty thousand years into the future. Along with Superman, everything that the ray touched, was also transferred. So, if my observation on Toyman's work is correct, it works in quanta. We will need a tiny fragment of ray energy, dispersed exactly on your surface area to take you into the future, but the nearer future."

"So it's like, Toyman, if Superman is a pebble, had thrown him with such force, that he skipped fifteen times on the lake, but we only need me to skip once, so we should use very little force. Yes?"

"…Pretty much."

"And our problem is, we can't exactly say how much force to use for me to skip exactly once but not twice or half-a-time."

"Yes."

"Okay, we'll figure it out. I'm feeling _very_ positive about it and I rarely say that about anything besides my blood group."

Batman snorted and turned to the monitors once again. "Good."

"Looks like I'm out of cola! Be right back, want anything?"

"A double espresso."

"Oh, we'll pulling off an all-nighter, then! You're lucky to have me as a teammate, Bats. I can keep talking _aaall_ night."

"Please don't."

Flash was already gone, however.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

"Please, I don't want to do this." Toyman pleaded when Batman was readying the coordinates. "I made the ray perfect, please, don't make me come. I'll be the perfect inmate. Please."

"Shut it."

"Tell me at least what we're going to do. Please."

"You'll be tied and left at a corner until we return, I don't see why the rest of the mission is of your interest."

Toyman squealed and Flash made his entrance, with Green Lantern by his side. "Goooood morning, people!" Flash chirped. "Who's ready for a trip? _This guy!_ "

"I swear," Green Lantern said, "I didn't give him any coffee or sugar."

"Please!" Toyman started again. "Don't take me with you. Please leave me here!"

Green Lantern rolled his eyes and nodded at two sentinels standing by the wall. "Take him, we don't need him anymore."

The sentinels grabbed Toyman to escort him back to his cell. "Thank you, Green Lantern! Thank you!"

Once they left, Green Lantern turned to Batman. "When were you going to tell him he wasn't coming?"

"…At some point."

"So, are we ready?!" Flash asked, with a big grin. "Let's get this over with."

"We've been through the specifics." Batman said.

"Yes, I know everything there is to be done. Trust me."

"Stand at the platform like I showed you."

Flash gave Green Lantern a quick hug, pretended to wipe a tear away and stood on top of the round platform, in front of a steel surface that Batman would use to draw the outline of his body. Flash stood upright like instructed, feet shoulder-width apart, hands to his side, palms facing in front.

Batman pressed several buttons on the console and a red laser scanned Flash's body surface, running the algorithm and presenting the way he should be hit by the ray. Batman nodded at Green Lantern and he used his ring to draw the precise outline of Flash on the steel plate.

"You're lucky I trust you enough, GL." Flash said, watching the green ray move just a millimeter away from his body.

Green Lantern gave him an angry look and turned to Batman. "All set."

Batman nodded and pressed his headpiece. "How does it look?"

Nightwing, from the main computer of the Bat Cave, rubbed his chin. " _The algorithm and the mathematic sequence of your computer seem sound so far… Go for it. It's the closest we can get."_

"Good luck." Batman told Flash.

Flash resisted the urge to give Batman a military greeting but remembered that he was not supposed to move at all. So he just smiled instead. "See you…now again, if everything goes well."

Batman pressed the small red button. The ray canon above his head moved on its axon, approaching the platform. The laser projected a net-like image over Flash, stopping at the indents of Green Lantern's carving. The canon loaded with a loud sound but only a barely visible ray in the shape of Flash's body was shot, as Flash's image disintegrated before their eyes.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Flash found himself in an unfamiliar harbor, behind some metallic crates. The sound of people hustling nearby and of vehicles flying above them filled the air and he smiled; the era seemed to be alright. He reached for his pocket and took out his small information monitor. The time readings were still stuck at his time back when he left. Carefully, he stepped a bit further and poked a worker, who looked at him from head-to-toe.

"What do you want, weirdo?"

Flash ignored her commentary. "Can you tell me the date?"

The woman frowned. "It's the 23rd of April."

"Year?"

"2209, what is wrong with you?!"

"Uh, nothing, just a really bad hangover! Thank you, my friend!" With that, he turned the other way and left, barely containing his enthusiasm.

He reminded himself to never doubt Batman again. His and Nightwing's algorithm had been so precise, that not only had they gotten the year right, but almost the day as well. He only had to wait a week before David Clinton's time trap would come to be. He checked his geographical coordinates on his monitors. He was only about one thousand miles away from where his city is.

"Piece of cake. Now…where do these people eat?" And then it hit him. "How do they pay!?"

He ran back to the worker. "Hey, buddy, do you think you need, like, an extra pair of hands around here? I'm the fastest worker you'll find, I promise."

The worker sighed. "What is the matter with you?"

"I told you, a really bad hangover, we were celebrating, um, a friend getting married and there was this bet and I got dressed like this and I ended up here somehow. Which city is this?"

"Chicago…"

"Okay, this is good, I'm from…Indianapolis, yes. Please let me work here for a couple of days so I can buy my ticket to leave."

The woman looked around. "Truth is we're a bit short on hands these days. You seem quite sturdy. Do you know how to operate the machinery?"

"No, but I'm a quick learner! Give me a try!"

"Fine. Only because you seem like you really need the help."

"…Thank you."

"Let me give you some proper clothes to wear, you can't work in…what even is this?"

"A…uniform. I don't think it's that bad!"

"Yeah, sure…What's your name?"

"I'm Wally."

"Wally, I'm Tabitha. Follow me."

Flash smiled and rubbed his hands. He found something to get future money _and_ spend his time till the two days passed. What more could he ask for?

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Flash had synchronized his timer with the future's time. According to Batman's log, David Clinton's short-circuit would come in thirty seconds exactly.

"Showtime." Flash mumbled to himself as he easily broke into the house from the east window. He followed his way to the back of the house, where David Clinton kept his collection of artifacts. The door was open and he saw the back of his wife, hands curled into fists by her sides, as she was scolding him. Her high-pitched voice slowed down as Flash accelerated. David had cowered in front of his wife, listening to her cruel words. His hands were grasping his belt as he was ready to make his exit.

"Sorry pal, I'll be taking this if you don't mind!"

Flash easily unclasped it from his hands and quickly observed it. He remembered Batman's words on how to –probably- operate it and hoping the masked vigilante was right once again, he pressed a button. A small CD slid out of the top. Flash placed it in his pocket and went on to push the button right of the central sphere. He entered the date and time of the day he left the present, added some coordinates and fastening it around his waist, pressed the central button. A wild whirlwind emerged behind his back and he jumped inside, letting it devour him, hoping he hadn't messed up.

When he reopened his eyes, he was on the other side of the canon room; Batman and Green Lantern were looking at the steel plate, where he was standing a split second ago.

"Woohoo!" Flash shouted excitedly, drawing their attention. "It worked!" He pointed to the belt and saw them both grin.

"Oh, thank God." Green Lantern said.

"Can I get a 'Go Batman!' for the best plan ever?!" Flash said, almost shaking with joy. Getting Diana back was closer than ever.

 ***A/N: The time travelling process will have several steps because I am trying to make this as reasonable as possible, considering the JL episodes do not make much sense/have several logical holes in them (okay, they're cartoons, of course, but I'm trying to make it at least somewhat…realistic). Bear with me, I'm trying to have it add up in the end, the next chapter will see the end of the time traveling process. Thank you for sticking around, please tell me how you found it, and excuse any unseen typos.***


	14. 14 - Exodus

***A/N: I don't have much to say, I'm just glad you enjoyed the time-travel idea. I hope you like this chapter as well. If you wish, take a listen to a ballad that I think fits the WonderBat of our story very nicely. It's 'Homesick' by Dua Lipa. See you at the end!***

 **CHAPTER FOURTEEN – EXODUS**

"What's with the packing, Bats?" Flash asked, watching Batman prepare a small suitcase.

Batman threw him a small tablet. "Think."

Flash read what was on the screen; the official League accords of the last mission to reclaim the pieces. "Oh, countermeasures for the things that supposedly guard the pieces!"

"You're smarter than you look."

"Meanie."

"So, how are we going to split?" Green Lantern asked, joining in at the conversation. "There was one part at the Metropolis museum, one part at that Aztec pyramid and one at the Mall. The last one was at Themyscira."

Superman entered the room. "Got the message. I'm ready to go!"

"Superman? You're tagging along too?"

"I did so the last time we opened the gate so I might as well help with the pieces one more time."

Flash rubbed his hands. "Field trip!"

Batman scanned the belt with a special gadget and pressed his earpiece. "Did you get it?"

" _Yup!"_ Nightwing's voice sounded from the other side of the line. " _Piece of cake. Sorta. I mean, I'll probably be able to duplicate it. If I am permitted to raid your weird-material cabinet."_

"Permission granted."

Nightwing chuckled. " _Thank you, kind sir. Have fun."_

Batman signalled them to come closer. "Let's go…ten days before Faust came around?" Flash suggested.

Batman checked the League's log for that date. No significant incidents. "Looks good."

"Bon voyage to us, then!"

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Diana smiled to herself, watching the calm souls drifting around their luminous Realm and she sat down, running her finger up and down the veil that separated them. Every now and then, she would catch a glimpse of a memory and whether it was good or bad, it _felt_ good. She was always moved by how the now Resting souls perceived their memories, no matter the kind, as part of them, as steps that took them to their proper end and she wondered if, when her time would come, she would have made that peace with herself as well.

She let out a sigh; so many things she has to do. So many things she _should have_ done but, alas, life- or Death more like- had other plans for her. She focused on Steve and his soul was soon floating near the Realm's entrance.

"Hello, Steve." Diana said, having long before passed the stage of feeling weird to talking to something that wouldn't respond back. "I took a look at myself today. Almost scared myself. I remember how you called me 'angel' and, well, if you were here, I don't think you'd call me that anymore. I look so…demonic. I bet if Raven saw me she'd say I look quite _cool_ , but…I'd much rather stick to my old looks. Not that I have a choice now. You get it, don't you? Sacrifices have to be made…"

She nodded deeply as if Steve had spoken. "I am willing to sacrifice a lot if that means they're going to be safe. But, hey, these looks are not that bad, are they? I mean, I look scary enough for my enemies to quiver before my sight!" She laughed but turned serious shortly after.

"What do you think he'd say if he saw me like this? Would he...No! Steve, you must scold me when I think like that! What are you even here for?" She smiled at the soul. "It's your duty, alright? You must hold me from thinking like that. I am Wonder Woman, Diana of Themyscira, and I mean a lot to my friends, like they do to me. I must stay true to myself and my principles. You'll help me, old friend." She winked at it.

"Besides…They would never turn me away, no matter how I look." She chuckled. "Bruce even fought for me when I was turned into a pig. I don't think it gets worse than that!"

She leaned back, supporting herself on her elbows and looked up into the never-ending darkness of the Underworld. She wondered what Bruce was doing. Was he well? Was he lonely? She missed him dearly, like she missed the sun, the stars, the sky, water, food, sleep… so many things.

A sharp pain made her gasp and fold in half, hugging her torso. It felt like someone had pushed a dagger deep inside her guts and it made her feel like throwing up. But she had felt like this before; she knew what this was about.

Growling in pain and anger, she planted her fists on the ground and took a few deep breaths, exhaling through her teeth. Finally she got up, still panting. "That bastard!" She shouted and Haros came to her side.

"What is wrong, Princess? You don't seem very well."

"Hades has somehow released more souls! Damn him!"

"It will pass, please, relax. It doesn't last long, the pain."

"I don't care about the pain! I care about his scheme! Don't you know anything about his plan, Haros? Didn't he say what he wanted to do once he was out?"

"No, he didn't. He only ever planned his escape. To be honest, I don't think he had something solid planned for afterwards. He was never the organizing type."

Diana tried to stabilize her breathing. She had to stay calm. Either her friends would find a way to open the door, or Hades would find a way to come get more resources from the Underworld. Either way, it would come down to fighting and she would be more than ready to face him.

"Haros, go get your siblings ready, we're going to do some emergency practice."

"…As you wish, Princess."

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Bruce silently walked over the rooftop of the museum until he reached the small glass dome. He made out the outline of the huge metal soldier statue that would animate once he removed the piece from the ancient vase. For one second, he caught the reflection of the night sky on the glass and turned his head upwards.

Some stars twinkled in between the clouds that covered the sky and he sighed. It used to comfort him once; knowing that Diana was under the same sky as him, somewhere he could reach her if ever anything happened to her. Of course, he wasn't ever going to share those late-night thoughts. And now…Now who knew if she had a sky at all. He wondered. Was she well? Was she lonely? He only hoped they wouldn't be too late.

Bringing his mind back to the matters at hand, he easily opened the window at the side of the dome and slid inside silently. He moved to the tall statue and by pressing the right spots at its ankle, and with the sound of some metal gears falling into place from inside, he deactivated it. He easily took the piece from the vase, placed it in one of his pockets and with a grappling hook from his belt, went back the way he came.

Superman came on the comm-link. " _I have the Mall piece in my hands. Moving to the meet-up location."_

"Moving as well. Flash, Green Lantern, how is it looking?"

" _The snake is out. Flash is fetching the piece as we speak. Estimated time of arrival…in twenty minutes."_

"Copied."

" _See you there!"_ Superman said.

Bruce felt his heart pace speed up a bit. They actually had the key to the Underworld. Diana's liberation was drawing nearer with each passing second.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

When the four of them came back to the Watchtower, a couple of hours after the time they left, Zatanna was just about to sound the main alarm.

"What happened?!" Green Lantern asked once they met her.

"Fate's soul has been reacting to something. He's in the containment room just for precaution, he said it was harder for him at some point to control it. Upon…further magical investigation, Fate is certain that more souls have just been released somewhere."

"Uh-oh." Flash said. "That can't be good."

"Could he come up with a location?" Green Lantern asked.

"No. We can only tell so much. I checked with every patrol, double-checked surveillance at possible target locations, contacted everyone relevant I could think of. No one has seen Hades. I don't know where he found more, but he did."

"We don't have much time." Batman said. "We need to unlock Tartarus."

"At least your mission turned out to be successful." Zatanna said, seeing Green Lantern holding the assembled key. "I'm glad."

Green Lantern nodded. "Alright. Let's call in all Leaguers to start preparing for Operation _Homecoming_."

"We start at the break of dawn tomorrow." Batman said. "Flash, with me."

"Yes, cap'n." Flash said, cheerfully following Batman out of the hall. The zeta-tube sound welcomed Nightwing at the Watchtower.

"What a timing! The belt is ready. Identical to the last detail." Nightwing handed Batman a belt exactly like Chronos'.

"You made a duplicate? Why?" Flash asked, squinting his eyes. "Do you want to keep time-traveling, Bats?! I thought you were against that."

"How do you think you'll come back once you go to return the original belt to David?" Batman said, exasperated. "And we have to eventually return the pieces in order not to disturb the space-time continuum. What has happened must happen."

"…Right. Good thing we have you, guys, to think of these things! He-heh."

"You're ready to go whenever." Nightwing said.

Flash took a look at the time. "Alright, I'll go return the belt now. Better to get it over with."

Batman handed him the belt. Flash entered the time coordinates and went through the vortex. In a few seconds, a new vortex on the other side of the hall led him back inside. "All done." He gave the second belt back to Batman. "I think it's better that _you_ keep this."

"Let's go get ready." Nightwing said. "I received a message that we're going through with _Homecoming_ , yes?"

"Hades somehow got some more souls." Flash said. "It's too dangerous to leave him roam around anymore."

"I'll go check on Fate." Batman said. "You two go prepare."

They both nodded, heading the other way. Batman walked along the southern corridor and entered the confinement chamber. Doctor Fate was hovering above the floor, staring outside the window.

"Any progress?" Batman asked.

"I have managed to embed the soul energy to my magic to an extent. I believe it will be enough to keep Hades at bay for some time. It was the best I could do with the time we were given."

Batman nodded. "I don't find any reason for you to stay in this room now. Everything seems under control."

"I appreciate its silence."

"I see."

"Go rest, Batman. We'll meet before we leave."

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Hades was not a patient god. But he was willing to make an exception for one of his oldest and most loyal allies. Especially now that she was willing to meet up and share some information with him, when no other god or goddess wanted anything to do with him or humanity.

Valia Calda in the Pindos mountain range was one of Hekate's favourite places. She used to go there to hunt and run her businesses but now it was their assigned rendez-vous point. Hades had grown tired of walking around the trees when she decided to make her appearance. Hades almost grinned when he saw her; it had been so long that he hadn't seen anyone of his kin.

She was almost as tall as him and as dark-colored as him as well. Her dense, curly, black hair seemed to float all around her as she approached, pinning her beady eyes on his face. Her tunic was, like always, short and paired with a pair of leather boots; she didn't want anything like lush fabrics and delicate footwear to hinder her hunting. "If it isn't Hades…It's good to see you again."

"Good to see you too, Hekate. It makes me content to know I still have some allies."

"You didn't think we'd all change our allegiances because you were imprisoned now, did you? We might not bother with the world, but not everyone is as deeply narcoleptic as Zeus is nowadays."

"Good to know that too."

"Don't overestimate it, though. We're still not going to put our heads on the line for you. Whatever you do, you're on your own. I'm just going to tip you off for the sake of the old times and for whatever comes next."

"I know, I didn't expect anything from any of you. I was even surprised to receive your message."

"You should be, it's still risky to associate with you. But if your plan works, I hope you don't forget who was still by your side."

"I won't. Now, what do you know?"

"You know how I have little tolerance for puny, bubbly goddesses…"

"That one we have in common."

"Well, for some reason, the other day, I was a little more tolerant than usual and managed to stick around for Iris to finish narrating something that had happened to her. Mainly because your name was dropped, and that is not something that happens too often."

"Iris…?"

"You did have a hyalon down there, did you not?"

"Yes."

"It seems like your newly-found daughter managed to use it."

"The hyalon?! As far as her powers go, she is just slightly better off than a mere human. There was no way she could have possibly used it."

"Not only was she able to, but Iris couldn't even describe how. She could only say that Diana was terrifying and threatened Iris. And in such a way, that Iris had no reason whatsoever not to believe her."

"…I don't know if I should be proud as a father, or worried. Did Iris say what kind of message she had to deliver?"

"You know her. She always talks too much, so yes. She did say something. Something about you opening up the Gate."

"Clever girl. I would like to open it, that is true."

"She warned one of her teammates and told him to try to open it before you do. Iris didn't say the name, I didn't ask so as not to look suspicious. It's not like me to take interest in her stories."

"Reasonable. Anything more?"

"She said she was going to stop providing them with more souls because you are dangerous and that they should stop chasing you."

"Not that they have gotten any close to me anyway. They're all just pitiful humans."

"That was all I could get from Iris. Then she rumbled on about the recipient, how he asked if Diana was alright. He was probably infatuated with her. Being a man, I suppose."

"Diana is an attractive woman. She had good genes, after all, so this is no groundbreaking information."

Hekate shrugged. "That's all I know."

"So they want to open the Gate, hm. I might be able to make some use of them, then. Thank you, Hekate."

"I wish you good luck. A little bird told me you went scooping around Erinyes' lair not long ago…"

"That is a very observant bird you've got. I did. It wasn't in vain that I had them once gather all the necromancers' stash and put it safely away."

"Took you long enough."

"Well, the Erinyes had done a marvelous job hiding them. I needed to get myself some souls to track their stash down first."

"I'm glad to hear you're well-armed, then. Farewell, Hades."

Hades nodded. "I will see you when this is all over."

Hekate gave him a side-smile, turned around and started running like a spirit through the woods until she vanished from his sight.

If one could say that humans had one redeeming quality, it was their resourcefulness. Though they were fragile, with countless weaknesses and needs, they always managed to come up with solutions that had once surprised even the gods at first. And Hades thought this was the perfect time to have them do something for him as well. Since his daughter was so kind as to ask her friends to open the Gate, why would he trouble himself with doing it on his own, when he could easily have the famous Justice League do it for him? Some of the strongest humans and even some aliens had become allied in that group; they were bound to come up with something sooner or later.

And he wouldn't let his daughter get the first move by being released first by them. If Iris was serious, Diana had changed down in the Underworld, in a way that Hades hadn't predicted. But, regardless, she would be no match for him in any case. He only needed to get that Gate open himself.

Stroking his dark beard, he made his plan to go to Themyscira as soon as possible and wait. He had a solid amount of souls in his possession and he knew that there was no worthy opponent on Earth for him now. No matter which Leaguer came, or how many of them, he would prevail. He just needed to wait for them to bring the key to Themyscira, and fly like a mouse straight into his trap.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

The dark color of the night was slowly starting to fade, giving way to a more vibrant shade of blue as the sun shyly peaked over the horizon. Bruce thought of how this looked a lot like Diana's eyes' color, especially now that some stars were still shining. For some reason, it made him feel more hopeful; like a good omen.

His night's sleep had not been bad either. No bad dreams, no disturbances; just a sound sleep. Exactly like he needed before venturing out to open the Underworld. He laughed to himself. How surreal was this all? The woman he was in love with was the daughter of the Underworld god of an old religion, trapped inside there while Hades roamed free. And he had already committed suicide once, and even time-travelled for her sake. And now, like a modern Orpheus, he was about to go down there to take her back.

If anyone ever told him that he would those things, he would have questioned his mental state. But there he was.

"You never know what you have until you lose it…" He mumbled to himself.

"That is true, sir." Alfred said, coming to stand by his side at the balcony and handing him a cup of hot coffee. "Good morning."

"Good morning."

"How are you feeling? Ready to do another reckless thing for love, are you?"

Bruce shook his head at Alfred's straight-forwardness. "You're making me uncomfortable."

"Your _feelings_ are making you uncomfortable, and thus me mentioning them. But I am not your immediate problem."

He huffed. "I was never good with words, Alfred."

"I didn't ask you to write a bloody poem, sir. Actions are just as good, but please let them continue when Princess comes back. You've gone to such lengths to bring her home, that it'd be a shame to go back to your cold civility after all this."

"We need to focus on what's important. We haven't even gotten her back yet, and you're already pestering me about what's going to come next."

"This is what I get for being optimistic for once…"

"I appreciate it, though. Your optimism."

Alfred nodded. "Maybe it's just my wishful thinking, but I think everything is going to be quite alright, sir. You just need to have some faith."

"I have faith in her." Bruce said, trying to convince himself as well; to convince himself that Diana was still Diana, that she was strong enough to defeat Hades and strong enough to come back to them.

"Then that's more than I could I ask for."

Bruce chugged the whole cup. "I'll go get ready."

"Of course, sir. Good luck."

"I'll see you when I see you, Alfred."

Alfred patted his shoulder and Bruce went back inside.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Diana hadn't felt this angry in a long time. Every fiber of her being was screaming. She was furious at Hades, at herself, at the universe, at the gods, at everything. But she kept going. Loading herself, attacking, reloading, attacking again, running, flying, shooting beams everywhere, shouting, falling down and getting back up. Haros insisted that she take a break but this wasn't the time to have a break. This was the time to get herself ready.

"He will pay!" Diana shouted in a voice that even she recognized was distorted. She had lost count of how many souls she had taken on her. She stretched her hand and another ray of pure soul energy was shot somewhere in the Underworld. With her other hand, she caught the souls coming back, reloading herself.

"I will crash him!" She stomped her foot down, cracks appearing beneath it and losing right after again.

"I will get my revenge!" She hit her brassards together, sending a huge shockwave all around.

"For what he did to me!" She screamed, energy oozing from her body.

"And then…" She flew in front of the Lingering Realm, taking deep breaths and summoning every soul she could see. "And then no one! No one will stand in my way again!"

She turned around and took a few steps, curling her fists. "He will reap what he sow! And then I will reap everything!"

Haros, watching from a distance, was discovering something new within it. It was true that Diana had helped it discover many things about itself, things that it liked, but now it wasn't feeling that nice anymore. It was fear.

Diana knew she wasn't being herself. But she had no control. This was what she felt right now and she had no option other than to let it take over. If this is what it took to be stronger, she had to endure. She could feel the power, it made her feel invincible. And she liked that. Something in her brain was telling to go even further. Why stop at Hades? She could establish her own rule, make a world exactly like she wanted. She let out a laugh that sounded evil even to her own ears. "Who will dare question me?!"

But then it felt as if someone had just screamed a deafening 'Enough!' in her head, and everything stopped. Everything went quiet and Diana felt overwhelmed by something she had never experienced before. It felt like a cold hand was on her shoulder, drawn by a power much bigger than the one she was holding at the moment. Wide-eyed, she turned back around to see the Realms and she knew what it was.

She had seen _hope_.

With eyes filled with tears and glistening in disbelief, she tried to touch the phantasm in front of her; so bright, so different than the gloom that had dominated her surroundings till then.

"I…I don't know how." Diana mumbled. "But _thank you_."

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Hippolyta welcomed them with a contained enthusiasm. She reassured them that the Amazons had reconstructed the basis of the key perfectly, gathering every little pebble and putting everything back in its place.

"Thank you all so much." Hippolyta said, leading the way inside. "We were all very happy to learn that Diana had found a way to contact you and that you found a way to bring the key back as well. We are forever in your debt."

"Getting Wonder Woman back is all the reward we want, ma'am." Green Lantern said, illuminating the narrow hallway with his ring. "It's finally time for her to come back."

"Was it really necessary for all of you to tag along, though?" Hippolyta asked, turning to give a hasty look to the rather long queue of people following them. She recognized Superman, Batman, Green Lantern and the red speedster, Flash she thought he was called, but the rest not quite so. A floating figure with a golden helmet seemed to have a rather important position, judging by how Batman stuck to his side. Two sisters were also amongst the crowd; one wore a long purple cape and the other a weird outfit with a black top hat. They seemed somewhat anxious.

"Half the reason is for safety." Superman said. "The other half is that we all want to see Diana again. We've all missed her a lot. And we want to help her bring Hades down."

Hippolyta nodded and once they reached the big door, she pushed it open, leading them to where the Gate was. Superman, holding the key, approached the base and turned to his companions. "So are we all ready?"

"I'm not, excuse me." Hades' voice sounded, as he made his entrance right behind them all, shutting the door. "And I'll be taking that."

Losing no time, Zatanna and Raven placed themselves next to Dr. Fate as the rest went behind them, readying whatever magical amulets they had with them. Fate summoned his soul and it shone bright in front of him, mixed with some of his magic. Raven and Zatanna projected magical fields from their sides, trying to form a shield to keep Hades and his attacks confined to one side.

Hades let out a devilish laugh. "You humans are truly this stupid. These things didn't work the last time, what makes you think it will work now?"

Before anyone could blink, he had teleported right next to Superman. The Kryptonian was enveloped in a small hurricane of soul energy as Hades easily took the key out of his hands, repelling any attack coming from any amulet with swishes of similar soul energy. Doctor Fate was quick in launching an attack which Hades hadn't predicted, tearing through his soul barricade. Hades fell to the ground, holding the key tightly to his chest. He groaned angrily.

With a growl as he stood up, he stretched his hands and ten more souls were shot towards every single one of them, easily breaking whatever defence they had put on. One by one, with the exception of Fate, they all fell unconscious to the ground, being touched by Hades' death magic.

"You have some talent, sorcerer. I'll give you that." Hades said. Doctor Fate didn't favour him with any response. He simply gathered the soul back, merging it with some of his magic and casting a protective layer over his body, thinking of a way to launch another successful attack. He stretched his hand out, preparing a golden ray to shoot and Hades laughed again.

"I told you it's pointless." Hades, gathering up all of his souls, effortlessly dispelled Fate's ray, sending a good hit his way. Fate was shot on to the wall, crashing with a loud thud. Hades kept him pinned there, continuously having souls hit upon him, until the protective layer started fading.

Defeating the power of only one soul, Hades overcame the resistance of Fate's magical nature, rendering his human side finally unconscious. Fate's body fell to the floor, right next to Hippolyta and Raven.

"Tsk." Hades spat, shaking his mane. "Now, time for a family reunion."

He approached the keyhole column, raising the key up and placing it in the hole. The gears on the door started turning and the heavy Gate slowly opened. Hades looked expectantly at the darkness within.

With steps slow and heavy, Diana walked towards him, pinning her eyes on his face.

"Let's end this, father."

 ***A/N:** _ **TV Presenter voice**_ **Final battle coming up next! Will Diana prevail and how? And what comes next? Stay tuned to find out!**

 **I hoped you enjoyed this, dear readers. I don't want to keep dragging it, so this is why the action is not too long up to this point. Thank you for staying so far and please let me know how you found it!**

 **PS. I know the ancient goddesses I'm mentioning are pretty obscure, but they do exist and were known to be dark deities.***


	15. 15 - Pyrreios Nike

***A/N: Thank you for reading so far and leaving me a review/fav. Hope this story meets your expectations. Have fun!***

 **CHAPTER FIFTEEN –** **PYRREIOS NIKE** *

Bruce felt the harsh ground on his cheek. He was lying face down, completely unable to communicate with his body. He felt numb and paralyzed, and that wasn't even the worst part. His mind felt as if it was in shambles; a memory here, a sentiment there, a void everywhere.

He tried to concentrate; what was the last thing he remembered? Even trying to make some sense of the utter chaos made his head ache. But…he remembered Hades and feeling powerless. And…the Gate! With his head ringing, he tried to get his eyes to open, although they felt heavy like made out of lead.

His sight through the thin slit of his eyelids was blurry but he felt his heart race when he made out the shape of Diana coming out of the Underworld. And then, maybe out of the shock or of his longing to see her again, his mind seemed to cooperate with him more, enough to let him focus better on what he was seeing, although he was still unable to even move his little finger.

Diana marched slowly out. Her steps were confident, but something about her presence was off-setting. The moment she stepped out, everything seemed to turn darker. She was wearing a black armor with peculiar engravings that occasionally shone and her abnormally long hair looked like it was floating around. Bruce hoped it was just the lighting and his distorted vision, but her appearance wasn't really…healthy. Her complexion was grey, her eyes and her lips almost black and it looked like her skin was cut open at places. He didn't know what to make of it, and he just hoped it was still their Diana.

"I see you have been busy, child." Hades said, grinning. "But you are no match for me. Now, spare everyone the trouble and step aside, I need to get something, yes?"

Diana laughed and spoke, her voice giving Bruce goosebumps. "The only thing you will be getting, is back in the Underworld."

Hades chuckled and gathered his souls around his hands. With a high leap, he lurched to Diana, trying to push her away. Diana met his fists, easily holding her ground. She inhaled and Hades, to his utter surprise, saw his own souls getting absorbed inside her armor, as their power left him and Diana gave him a good kick, enough to send him flying across the chamber and crash on the wall. "You're not supposed to attack."

Hades rubbed his chin as he stood up. "Naïve child. I _wasn't_ supposed to because for the time being, I was weaker than my pathetic brother. But he is slow and incompetent. Till the time he decides to move, no one will be able to stand against me. Not even you, with your little tricks. Time for you to get back."

Hades outstretched his hand and summoned a massive amount of souls from inside the Lingering Realm, his original control of the Underworld still going as strong as ever. Diana didn't try to hold any of them back. She had to concentrate on his incoming attack. Hades released them, launching a humongous ray towards Diana, pushing her several steps back. She crossed her forearms in front of her face, as her brassards deflected the souls, steadily absorbing more and more.

Diana felt her whole body heat up as the armor kept drawing more souls in. For the first time, she was actually very conscious of her own skin cracking open at places, giving way to the magic beneath to surface. And she found it better to focus on that pain instead of the chaos that ruled the rest of her head. She could literally feel her memories leaving her bit by bit.

Hades marveled at the luminous armor and the still-standing Diana. She barely resembled the Amazon he remembered. But that didn't matter, he had his mission to bring to an end. "I can keep doing this forever, Diana. And I really don't know if you can hold on much longer."

"I won't have to." Diana said through her teeth, firmly placing her feet on the ground and unleashing a ray back to Hades. He shielded himself with his hand, not noticing that Diana, with her other hand, sent several more souls circling around him. The vortex created was enough to lift him off the ground and trap him inside. He tried teleporting out of it but he soon realized that it was impossible to do so while in there. Before he could summon some of the souls for himself, she pushed the vortex higher, pinning him to the ceiling. She flew up, covering her hands with a nice soul layer and landed two solid punches on Hades' face.

Hades managed, however, to dissolve the souls holding him up and broke his hands free before she could get a third one. Quickly, he blocked her right hand and placed both of his hands around her neck, while he managed to regain control of the souls around them. Pushing his feet on the ceiling, he propelled both of them to the floor, slamming Diana on the ground. And he kept her there as she struggled to release herself, enhancing his grip with more and more souls coming under his control.

Diana went back inside her head. She didn't have time to lose by pointlessly trying to struggle as it was. Scattered memories were running wild and she didn't know if they were hers or not. Random feelings, desires, moments, anything. And over it all, something greater seemed to take over; pure, unadulterated anger.

Letting out a hellish scream, she cusped her hands over Hades' forearms and started to shake as she regained control of the souls he tried to bring onto her. A shockwave of energy coming from her easily pushed Hades away as he was shot to the wall once again and Diana, instinctively, sent a swish of her magic underneath Flash's body to get him out of harm's way.

Next thing she knew, she was over Hades, landing punches. And during the few moments that followed, Hades and she were involved in a brawl without winner, as they kept on stealing souls from one another, pushing, kicking and testing each other. Her movements were fast and precise, and so was his.

"I. Will. Crash. You!"

Diana didn't know exactly how, but she managed to take everything from Hades and get it all on her. The punch she landed made cracks appear where Hades was shot at. She lifted him off his neck and threw him further inside Tartarus, drawing the fight away from her teammates. It was only by sheer luck that none of them had been seriously injured so far.

Rigidly but steadily, she stepped back into the familiar darkness of the Underworld. Haros, a little bit further, gave her a small nod that she couldn't really process, given the state of her mind.

Hades stood in front of the Realms, looking at her with his bloodshot red eyes. "Time to see why you should not have tried to mess with me, kid. Enough with this."

Diana readied herself, her fury helping her keep the bits of her own mind closer. She knew that it wouldn't last long, but it was the best she had for now.

Hades let out a laugh that made her blood freeze, as he turned into his true demonic form. "Come forth, scams of this Earth! Join your master."

The ground beneath them start to shake and to Diana's horror, the damned souls of the far right Realm miraculously ripped through the veil keeping them inside and gathered around Hades, merging into a huge creature whose form could hardly be described.

Diana's mind went blank from fear. The energy it gave off was horrifying; the souls themselves contained everything that was bad in the world, multiplied by the time they were contained in the Underworld. Just by happening to look at any of them, filled her with despair and hate, that was practically oozing from Hades now, as he was barely visible from inside the creature.

She turned around, not wanting to see it anymore. And she laughed. She had absolutely no control of anything, she could remember nothing of herself and her life, and the only thing she could do was laugh. She took a slow step, pinning her eyes on the open Gate, her laugh turning into sobs.

"What's wrong, child?" Hades outworldly voice echoed around, in symphony with the devilish voices from the souls. "Finally decided to leave?"

Diana fell on her knees and started to crawl, hot tears running down her face. The creature's gigantic hand wrapped tightly around her torso. Diana felt, at the points were it pressed on her, her skin rip even more and her ribs break and heal and break again, only to heal right after, as the pain repeated itself; the Underworld sustained her still.

She wanted to say something, but she had no voice. And what would she say? She wasn't sure how she was feeling, or what the point of fighting was anymore. But then she saw.

She saw a man a good distance further, outside the Gate, in a peculiar black and grey costume trying to drag himself, but failing. He didn't look weak, but drained of his power more like. She was sure she knew him but she couldn't remember anything else. The man lowered his head and trembling, managed to remove his mask and look towards the Underworld. Diana was sure he couldn't see anything of what was going on inside, but she could clearly see his eyes, bright but clouded by something like fear and anger combined. It was… _her Bruce_!

Her eyes widened, as she pinned them on his sight, ignoring that Hades drew her closer to him. She now remembered why she had to fight; for everything she held dear and everything she had left undone. And finally, she remembered that she wasn't alone…She was never alone.

As Hades' demonic souls were ready to devour her, she smiled and tiredly brought her hand to touch her black tiara. The gem on the center shone. "You'll never win, Hades." She whispered, but Hades naturally heard.

Intrigued by her persistent naiveté, sure of his imminent victory, he kept her high above, just inches before the buzzing mass of tormented souls that longed to consume her. "Oh, and why is that?"

"Because I have something you don't." Diana said faintly again. "I fight for justice, I fight for happiness and love. And love is stronger than anything." That moment, the light from the gem took shape, and Steve Trevor's soul floated right above Diana, a bright light engulfing everything when it emerged. The souls that held Diana dissolved under the presence of a pure Rested soul and Diana levitated in place, watching Hades trying to maintain his creation's composure.

"Oh, you got a friend. How sweet." Hades said ironically, trying to mask his surprise. The Rested could not be summoned, he was certain of it; they were a special kind of soul. He was their Guardian, but not their Commander. They answered only to themselves; such was the power of their life.

"I am not alone, Hades. And you will _not_ take me away from _my_ happiness and _my_ place. I have to live."

Diana stretched her hand towards the Realms, Steve's soul by her side making her feel as calm and concentrated as ever. She now knew that she could do it. Maybe the connection between Steve and her was what had brought his soul out in the first place and helped her keep him close by. But it would be her resolve and her own soul that would help her do what she was about to do. Maybe the souls themselves had been trying to tell her from the very beginning in their own way; they would join the cause their sole existence represented –acceptance and happiness.

The time had come.

"For everything that is good in this world."

One by one, the few Resting souls glided through the Realm and towards Diana, who inhaled deeply and joined powers with her new allies.

"Impossible." Hades said, unleashing a massive amount of Tormented souls towards Diana, trying to stop the soul flow. She simply raised her hand and his attack was cut short there. She smiled as she drew more and more souls and her black skin turned white. She could feel her whole being cleanse.

Diana led all of the Resting souls to merge with herself and with each other, as she became the core of a creature made out of their pure energy. She rose tall, high above Hades, high above everything in the Underworld as the luminous body of the creature she had concocted grew bigger.

Hades was not a quitter. And there was no way he would accept a being beneath his status winning. Quickly, he drew more and more Tormented souls, adding to his formation, enough to reach Diana. Light versus Darkness she wanted, and that's what she would get.

But it was hardly a battle, as he would soon notice. It was over before it even began.

"Begone." Diana said, opening her arms and letting everything free.

A blinding light took over the Underworld. Hades' souls were cast away like pebbles in a tsunami, leaving him exposed and he screamed as it hit him hard. Even Acheron was shaken, its usually calm surface now filled with waves.

When she had given it everything she had, when she knew that Hades was thrown in the deepest pits of the Underworld completely defeated and she had won, her souls left to return to their Realm. And she, completely drained, closed her eyes and started falling to the ground. She knew she would crash but she couldn't anything. She had no more power left.

Haros made clever use of the disturbance in the Underworld hierarchy to act however it liked. There were two legitimate Guardians inside, the former having returned, with the latter being declared the triumphant winner over their battle. As far as the Underworld 'was concerned' -and therefore Haros, no one was a full Guardian as long as the other one was also present and so, it had no binding loyalty, technically.

It might not have looked like it, but Hades had built Haros to be durable and strong, originally meant as an assistant and a helper in battle. And so, catching Diana from her fall was nothing for Haros. She landed safely in its arms, her limps and her head hanging down. Haros glided quickly to the Gate and brought Diana out, leaving her on the marble floor.

"Princess, please." It shook her gently from her shoulders. "Princess, if you wish for this be over, you have to close the Gate. Diana!" Diana barely managed to open her eyes. "Close the Gate!"

"Wh…You?"

"Do not worry about me, I might even dissolve, there are plenty others of me inside. You have to close the Gate! The Underworld will restore both you and him, and Hades will be able to fight again soon enough. Close it to get this over with! This is what you wanted!"

Haros lifted her a bit from the ground, so that she could move her hands more freely. Diana lifted her hand just a little bit, but the swish of her palm was strong enough to make the Gate close again, and she was soon back to unconsciousness.

To Haros' surprise, it was still there. Despite being out of the Underworld. It would have rejoiced to be able to stay with Diana a bit longer, if it didn't realize that the humans that were previously rendered powerless by Hades were slowly recovering and looking at it with hostility or suspicion, at best.

The bulkiest one, the one that Diana had indicated as Superman when they had shared memories, was the first one on his feet. He managed to come close and take Diana in his arms, cradling her close.

"Oh, Diana…" He mumbled, looking at the cracks on her skin that had turned black again. "Who are you?" He asked but Haros couldn't understand his language. "I said, who are you?!"

"Superman, wait." A second man called, painfully trying to pull himself up, and Haros recognized Batman, or Bruce Wayne, one of the Princess' most loved people. If not _the_ most.

"I don't speak this language." Haros said in Greek, addressing Bruce. He could speak Greek, Diana had showed him that. In a very strange accent, but he could.

"So, who are you?" Bruce asked in Greek and Superman arched an eyebrow.

"I am Haros. Assistant and bound to serve whoever is the Guardian of the Underworld. I can now sense that Hades is once the Guardian since the Princess closed the door. But apparently I am still…here. I can…decide what to do and I'm here for the Princess."

"Thank you for bringing her out."

Haros was taken aback by Bruce's gratitude. "I am her loyal servant, Bruce Wayne. What kind of servant would I be to let her harm herself?"

"How do you know my name?"

"I know you through the Princess' memories."

Bruce's eyes widened. "How is that-"

"There is plenty of things that you all, mere humans, cannot understand about the Underworld and it's maybe better left that way. Now,"

"…Yes, we need to get out of here and get her to the doctors."

"She shall heal from all of this that you see, her body just needs time. Now, from what you can't see, I do not know…"

Leaving Haros to his riddles, Bruce turned to Superman. "He is with Diana. I want to question him when we get to HQ. Did you address a call?"

"The rescue squad will be here in four minutes. I hope it's not too late."

"It's not. He told me she will physically recover in due time."

"…I hope he's right."

"Me too, Superman. Me too…"

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Once back to the Watchtower, everyone that had been to Themyscira had been admitted in the hospital ward. Diana was placed in a secluded compartment, with J'onn closely monitoring everything. The rest of them, after J'onn made sure they were physically fine, were left to recover mentally and would soon be dismissed.

Bruce, restless as ever, was quick in leaving the ward to first examine Haros. He had found J'onn and Haros communicating telepathically in front of Diana's door.

"J'onn. How is she?"

"Haros is providing me with vital information about the kind of exposure she had been having, since none of us have ever faced something like this before."

"And?"

"Her body is just manifesting signs of magical usage that was either too advanced or was developed too quickly. From what Haros described, Diana overexerted herself with training almost continuously in order to be able to fight."

"Typical. Is she going to recover?"

"Now that she will stop performing such magic, everything will subside. Doctor Fate seems to also agree with this." J'onn turned to Haros, nodding his head. Haros probably told him something through their psychic link.

"As long as she is kept well-nurtured of course, but this is being taken care of."

"May I have a private word, J'onn?"

J'onn nodded and after curtsying a bit to Haros, led Bruce to a room a bit further.

"Do you trust him?" Bruce asked.

"I find no malicious signs in its psyche while we communicate. Its concern over Diana appears genuine, from what I can read."

"Can't you fully infiltrate his head?"

"Haros has a peculiar form of existence and mentality. I can only go as far as it allows me and maybe get some readings on its sentiments."

"Back in Themyscira, he said-"

"It's not a he, Batman. Though we, gendered species tend to appoint gender to nearly everything, Haros is not a male, or a female. It's a different existence. It asked me to be referred to with neutral pronouns."

"…Alright. _It_ still doesn't understand English, yes?"

"Yes. My psychic powers require no specific language to work, but Haros only seems to speak Greek."

"In Themyscira," Bruce returned to his original point, "this Haros said that it is a servant to the Guardian. Hades is now the Guardian, so that makes Haros its servant. And I don't like the presence of anyone attached to Hades here."

"I understand. It does seem reluctant in sharing some things with me, but has been very open to anything that will help us treat Wonder Woman. I do not believe, as I said, that it's here to harm any of us, nor that it actually possesses the power to do so. But I take it you want to question it yourself."

Bruce nodded. "I'd like to have a word with it."

"Go ahead."

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

"Do you drink coffee, Haros?" Bruce asked in Greek, taking a seat by Haros in a small monitoring room, an espresso shot in hand. "Or anything, really?"

"As you can notice, I don't have a functional mouth like you humans do. I don't require this sort of nutrition. I was built by Hades and I am sustained by the Underworld."

"But you are not there now."

"I know and I am honestly quite confused as to why I am still existing here. But I don't feel drained. I am feeling quite normal. Maybe I am preserved through the rest of the Haros."

"The rest of the Haros?"

"I am only sharing this information with you, Bruce Wayne, because from what I can tell from the Princess' memories, you are trustworthy and very persistent. So I don't wish to make this questioning procedure harder to either of us."

Bruce frowned and folded his arms. "Very well. Go on. Your secrets are safe with me."

"I am an existence with several identical physical manifestations. That is, there are countless of other Haros inside the Underworld doing the work there is to be done, and we share one consciousness. I was admittedly fairly ignorant to the extent of it, but Diana helped me discover parts as my free will."

"Did this free will lead you out of the Underworld?"

"My free will led me in helping Diana achieve her goal because she wanted it more than anything. And I have grown to care for her. Coming out of the Underworld was not my intent, other than getting Diana out safe. I wasn't even aware that I could exist outside it."

Bruce's hazy but strong memories of yesterday's battle seemed to confirm Haros' story. He recalls it telling Diana that it could even dissolve but she shouldn't care about that. "I'll be straightforward with you. You told me that you are a servant of the Guardian. And that is Hades now. So you serve him, and _I don't like that._ "

"That may be true but I think I am not directly connected to him now. I can see that he has been very angry and has gone rampant ever since he woke up, but he is not aware that I helped."

"You can see him?"

"I told you, Bruce Wayne. We Haros share a common consciousness. What the rest of them see, I see and remember too. And I do not intend to ever tell him what I did. He doesn't need to know."

Bruce squinted his eyes. "And how do I know that this is not a very well executed trap so that you can gather information about us and give them to Hades?"

"That is actually a very good thought, worthy of your title as a great detective." This deep knowledge on him made Bruce feel uncomfortable; what had Diana shared with Haros exactly? "I suppose you can't know. But I urge you to remember that I received orders only from Diana up to the moment I got her out. I never, not once, helped Hades with his plan to escape and return. Diana will confirm this when she wakes up, if she can. Plus, Hades is not a God that frequently asks for help. He finds it beneath him. Let alone help from his servant, his own puny creation. I'll have you know, Bruce Wayne, that I had some capabilities that only Diana discovered while she was down there with us. Master Hades hadn't even bothered with me all these eons to find them out."

"What kind of capabilities? Powers?"

"Not the kind you people in the Justice League possess, fear not. Let's just say that this is how the Princess could show me your images. That kind of thing. I don't have any other powers other than my physical durability. I will allow you to run any tests you want on me if that's what it takes for me to see the Princess again. I know you cherish her and wouldn't want to jeopardize her again. I respect that."

Bruce exhaled, taking a sip from the hot beverage. "We will do some tests, thanks for cooperating, I suppose."

"Of course. Also, keep in mind, Bruce Wayne, that any information I could gather would be useless to Master Hades. He was defeated and no one will ever release him again. Not Zeus, not the Amazons, not anyone. I trust you destroyed the key?"

"It has been taken care of."

"Good to know. So, Hades knows his fate; down there forever. Also, I never asked to be made a part of your union. I am only a friend to the Princess and I wish to remain as such, unless you, and her of course, find a better use for me. So, I don't require to have access to any sensible information."

Bruce nodded, thinking for some moments. "What did Diana do in the Underworld? What is the deal with the souls?"

"…I'd rather you humans didn't know everything about the afterlife. Do not worry, your souls all get what they deserve in the end according to their life. I don't want to reveal anything more. I know that faith in grander powers is what keeps many of you going, and it's better if it stays that way."

Bruce nodded and remained silent for some minutes, pondering. "You seem sceptic of her recovery." He finally said.

"The souls are a great weapon but a very hard one too. It takes a heavy toll on the user. Diana faced several issues with them. She had managed to overcome most of them but the last battle was fairly intense. She performed a miracle. And I only hope it hasn't backfired on her."

He got up. "I'll go check on her. We'll be monitoring you, J'onn will come take you in a bit."

"Farewell."

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Bruce didn't know how long he had been sitting on the armchair by Diana's bed. Plenty of monitors kept track of her breaths, her heart rate, all of her vitals and J'onn ran several blood tests every few hours to see if anything deteriorated. Nothing had changed since she was admitted. She remained stable, but unconscious.

He had tried talking to her at first; sweetly, kindly, like lovers do. He had caressed her cold, black hands and planted a kiss on the crown of her head. He knew it was pointless but it felt natural at the time; he had missed her so much.

As the time went by, with no response from her, he had inspected the extent of the magical damage by discreetly lifting or siding her robe and observing her grey skin. The cracks ran deep, and though black, they shone. He ran a finger over one of her collarbone marks and felt how he had felt when Hades attacked them with the souls, just to a lower extent. He frowned; he could only guess how heavy that must feel for Diana.

The night found him sleeping at that armchair. Clark and Flash woke him up when they visited the next morning, both holding huge flower bouquets to decorate her bedstands. Bruce hardly held his own tears when both Clark and Flash cried when they saw Diana again. At first they were smiling; happy to have her back, but then they were afraid after seeing her like that. They prayed she would soon wake up.

Bruce only ever left her room to shower, hastily check on the League and attend some emergency meetings. Nightwing had voluntarily taken up all of his shifts; he understood. Bruce wanted to be there when she opened her eyes again.

He had finally allowed Haros to come see Diana again after two days. Together, they entered the spacious room and Bruce assumed his usual seat. Haros floated by the bed's side.

"Are all these tubes and wires necessary?" It asked.

"To make sure she's doing fine."

"Of course she's doing fine. She's strong. And the magical lines have started to fade I see."

Haros reluctantly raised its bony arm and touched Diana's hand. Its eye sockets suddenly shone and Bruce jumped up. Haros quickly withdrew its hand and its eyes turned black again. "What happened?!" Bruce asked.

"When Diana and I touch, we share visions. I see what she sees and she can see what I see. This is how she projected your images to me. Now…"

"What is she seeing?!"

"Nothing. She can't focus on anything. Wait a second."

Haros touched her hand again, this time decisively and its sockets shone again for a few seconds as Haros showed her the image of Bruce and itself waiting for her to wake up and when it stopped, Diana slowly opened her eyes.

Bruce almost hit himself on the bed as he came closer, cupping Diana's hand. "Diana!"

Diana looked at him intently with her clear blue eyes, but her look was weird. She scanned his face and squinted her eyes. Bruce removed his mask; maybe this would help her, he thought. Diana stared at him with renewed curiosity, but with nothing else. "Diana, it's _me_. It's Bruce."

Diana's look was blank. She averted her eyes to Haros and the room, and then to Haros again. She raised her hand to Haros and Haros joined palms with her as she showed him something.

"What did you see?" Bruce asked when Diana withdrew her hand.

"She showed me…me. Nothing, I don't know. She just shared her present vision. At least she instinctively remembers that we can do that."

Diana disregarded them as the flowers on the bedstand caught her fancy. She got them in her hands and started smelling every single one. "Diana, do you know where we are?" Bruce asked, feeling his body heat up.

Diana gave him a short side glance and turned to the flowers again. "I'll go get J'onn. Watch over her." Bruce announced, running to the door. In less than minute, he and J'onn were back inside the room.

"Diana." J'onn called with his deep voice and his red eyes shone as he entered Diana's mind. In a few moments, he came back and Diana resumed examining the bouquet.

"A peculiar situation." J'onn said, rubbing his chin and 'broadcasting' the news via psychic link to Haros. "I cannot quite grasp what is happening inside her head. She doesn't remember anything, but at the same time, it doesn't look like she has lost her memories. I think she just can't recall anything. She can't even speak."

"What I feared." Haros said.

"What do you mean?" Bruce asked.

"She dissociated from her psyche. When one uses souls, like she did, she unifies with them. If that continues, which it did, the souls become quite intrusive. Diana had experienced times when she relived foreign memories even without using souls at the time. It's hard to control it. We had to use something that helps cleanse from this soul residue but it steadily weakens the hold on her own soul. She had successfully recovered after every time she had needed that cleanse. But during that battle she did something unique and she united herself with some very powerful souls that though…happier than the rest, are souls nonetheless and maybe that was the last straw. Maybe she just couldn't hold it together after that. There's only too many reboots a mind can have."

"There has to be a way to restore her memory." Bruce insisted. "J'onn?"

"I'm afraid we don't have any."

"Diana had shared most of her memories with me." Haros said. "She said it was a failsafe if she didn't manage to come back after a cleansing session. Maybe I can use them and see if it works?"

Bruce sighed. "Might as well."

"Princess." Haros said and stretched its hand out for Diana. She left a pink daisy on its palm and cupped it with her hand. When they touched, Haros projected one of Diana's most beloved memories onto her. She quickly withdrew her hand and frowned, shaking her head.

"She doesn't want to see anything." Haros said and shared with J'onn too. "I think it's because those things are already in her head. I cannot tell."

"I think we should let her rest." J'onn said, seeing her fall back to her pillow.

"I'll stay here to watch her." Bruce said, folding his arms. "It's not safe to leave her alone."

"As you wish." J'onn said. He exchanged a short psy-conversation with Haros and the two of them left the room, Haros holding the pink daisy like a delicate gift.

"Diana…" Bruce said in a low voice. She turned to look at him as her eyelids closed. He caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers. She let out a small breath and fell back asleep.

"I'm so sorry…" He whispered. "I shouldn't have left you alone. Thank you for saving all of us. I promise, Diana. I promise to help you come back. I'll do whatever it takes."

He squeezed her hand and sat back on the armchair, pressing the bridge of his nose. This wasn't the time to cry, he told himself. It wasn't the end. He just had to find a way. He had even time travelled to get her back. Nothing would stop him now.

 ***A/N: Whoops! Turns out this isn't our happy end just yet! Hope you liked it, stay tuned for the next chapter! PS: Excuse any typos.***

 _*Explaining the title: Pyrreios Niki=Pyrrhic Victory. Ancient Greek saying for a victory that came at a great cost and with many sacrifices._


	16. 16- Old Habits Die Hard

***Hello dear readers, thank you for sticking so far. I hope you enjoyed the last chapter and I hope you'll enjoy Diana's way to recovery. See you at the end!***

 **CHAPTER SIX** **Τ** **EEN – OLD HABITS DIE HARD**

Diana slept a lot that night. Bruce woke up roughly every two hours to check on her. She looked so serene; he hoped she was having nice dreams. Maybe that way she could remember something. Anything.

It killed him inside to know that she had forgotten everything. But most of all, he was angry with himself because it was too late now. He knew Diana had feelings for him. He knew it very well. And he always had cast them aside, trying to bury his own and ignore them, only to realize how unbearable it was for him not to have her around, not being able to be there for her, to protect her and support her. He had wanted to reunite with her more than anything only to at least let her know finally. But he was a fool. He had taken her for granted when he had the chance and now he was left with his heart on his sleeve and a pain very much different from anything he had felt before.

Maybe that was karma, he thought. Maybe that was the universe's payback for the times he had rejected her. But, well, that didn't matter anymore and it was his burden to bear, and his only. Diana had to get better for everyone. They all needed her back, the Earth needed her back. And seeing the sun peak right behind Earth from their satellite, he went to throw some water on his face as the first visitors would soon arrive.

The bathroom's door opened and in came Diana in a haze. Bruce, startled, hastily wiped his face and made way for her.

"Good morning, Princess. Excuse me, I'll leave."

Diana completely disregarded him and moved further inside. Bruce, wanting to preserve her dignity, quickly went out and let out a sigh. At least, he thought, she remembered some basic rituals. That was something.

When she came out again, J'onn, Haros and Zatanna were there to greet her. Zatanna flashed her a big smile and jumped for a hug. Bruce was ready to step between them; Diana didn't remember them, there was a chance she would act defensive and maybe hurt Zatanna. But that wasn't the case, surprisingly. Although Diana was indeed not expecting the strong hug that the sorceress gave her, but she returned it, closing her eyes and resting her head on Zatanna's shoulders, stroking the witch's hair, although she still looked unexpressive.

"Diana's sisterly instincts might be expressing themselves now. A womanly nature may seem more familiar to her." J'onn said.

"Baby girl." Zatanna said, pulling just a little bit away and caressing Diana's face in return. "We've missed you. You can't believe what we went through to try to get you back. Especially that stupid, stupid man over there." She nodded towards Bruce.

"Poor soul." Zatanna went on. "She must have been starved from any kind of contact for so long-no offence, Haros."

"None taken, Miss Zatanna." Haros said, thankful that J'onn was providing them a constant translation circuit through his psy-link.

Seeing firsthand all of these people and how much they cared about Diana made it realize why she wanted so desperately to come back. Although she might not have felt it at the moment, she was finally back home, among her people.

"Please, just Zatanna. Any friend of Diana is my friend as well."

"As you wish." Haros said and approached a bit, handing Diana a plate that it had carried along, with freshly baked bread with pure Greek honey spread on it. Diana's eyes shone when she saw it and she returned to her bed, taking some big and sloppy bites.

As she was eating, she looked at all of them with wide eyes, her look jumping from one face to the other. "…Maybe we should introduce ourselves again." Zatanna said, pursing her lips. "Are we even sure she understands this language?"

"She has also been unresponsive to Greek." Haros said.

Bruce sighed. "Let's try. It will be a start." He poked the side of her arm gently to catch her attention. She turned to look at him. Bruce tapped his chest and pronounced his name clearly. "Bruce." He then pointed to her. "Diana." He repeated the process as she observed.

"Here." Zatanna said and Diana looked at her. "Zatanna." She pointed to herself and then to Diana. "Diana."

Haros and J'onn did the same and Diana observed all of them very closely. She swallowed her bite and opened her mouth, closing it up again. Finally, she licked her lips and spoke, placing her hand on her chest. "Diana." They all grinned reflectively. It was an improvement; the first step on her remembering who she is. "Diana…Diana." She nodded and then shrugged. "Diana."

"Beautiful name." Zatanna said. "I am _Zatanna._ Remember? Zatanna."

"Zatanna." Diana repeated effortlessly. "Haros." She said after, looking at it.

"Yes, her basic intelligence seems to have remained." J'onn said. "Her emotional state is still unclear."

Diana, finishing up her plate, sat back again and stared outside the window, sighing. Bruce frowned. "I…"

"You can say it, big boy." Zatanna said. "We don't judge. We know…"

"…I don't like seeing her this way, so sad."

"I suppose it's not the most pleasant experience in the world to be void. Although I don't think anyone can comprehend what she's feeling now." Haros added.

"But, guys, come on." Zatanna said. "No matter the memory state, how can anyone be happy locked inside a room like this despite being perfect health-wise?"

"She still has the magic cracks, Zatanna." J'onn said.

"Yes, but none of us can do anything about them and they'll be gone in due time, so she has absolutely no reason to be confined here. In these hideous robes too. Wait." She moved towards the closet and opened it up. Inside both of Diana's former armor suits were hanging. Zatanna brought them up to Diana's bed and Diana took them in her hands, examining them; she stroked the metallic details and felt the fabrics. "Can't expect my girl to be feeling like herself without the proper attire, right?"

Diana brought her original tiara to her head and put it on, fixing her hair. "Yes, that's right, Diana. Good girl."

"I don't think giving her the full armor is a good idea. Her strength is too great in that." Bruce said, rubbing his chin.

"Well, she would be able to give any of us a beating even without it. But it's her clothes and her powers. If nothing, they might wake up something inside or at least feel familiar. Now get out, boys. I'll help her get ready." J'onn and Bruce, with the latter shaking his head, left the room for a short second. Haros assisted Zatanna in basically showing Diana how to put them on and a few minutes later, she looked like she did before; shiny red boots, silver brassard, golden tiara, all in place.

When they were resummoned inside, Bruce subconsciously smiled upon seeing her like she used to be. He only wished her face would portray something, anything. It always looked so empty.

"What do you suggest we do then, Zatanna?" J'onn asked. "She is in no condition to stay alone yet and we need to be there for her. She could stay at her chambers here but-"

"I'll take her home with me." Bruce said with resolve. "It's the best option. Alfred will be the best caretaker for her."

J'onn pondered for a few moments. "I think she should be brought here sometimes."

"Of course." Bruce agreed. "I plan to take her to all her important life locations, hoping that something might strike a chord. The Watchtower was a big part of her life before so she will be brought here frequently."

"Flash, Superman and I can take turns in helping her out some hours of the day." Zatanna added. "That's what we were talking about yesterday. I think we can do it in your house as well, or whenever she comes here during the day. But I don't think it's a bad idea to have her staying in that beautiful place, _rich boy._ "

"Excuse me for being, well, too straightforward, but do you think I could also accompany her?" Haros said. "I don't belong here, I only wish to watch over her as well."

Bruce nodded lightly. "You can come along. You'll have to figure out a way to speak with Alfred since he doesn't speak Greek but I believe you'll manage."

"I won't be a burden, thank you."

"Now, then. Let's get you home." Bruce said, turning to Diana.

"I am needed back at the Hall." J'onn said. "I will see you all later again."

With that he left and Haros turned to the closet, gathering up the rest of Diana's belongings. Zatanna smiled at Bruce, seeing his cloudy expression. "You've completely pulled an one-eighty with her alright. It was high time."

"It's too late."

She huffed. "It's never too late. I know I'm not the one with that much of an experience on these matters, but I know something good when I see it. And she might not remember it now, but she will feel it soon enough, I know it. If it comes to that, I think she will just fall in love with you all over again."

He sighed. "We'll be leaving now."

"I'll see you soon. _Antio,_ Haros!"

Haros waved Zatanna goodbye and when they were ready, they cautiously led Diana outside and to the jet.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Diana seemed rather cautious while they rode on the jet. Bruce supposed her survival instincts told her it was unnatural and unsafe to be flying but she calmed down soon enough and observed the sky and the view curiously. The same thing that Haros was doing, asking plenty of questions while at it. Bruce almost felt like a dad in a roadtrip.

Diana followed him inside obediently, although she rarely turned to look at Bruce as they walked through the marvellous gardens of the Manor. She observed the surroundings, ran her fingers over the hedges, and smelled the roses. Haros was always walking by her side, as if it was living through her; it didn't touch anything, just closely watched Diana react with everything. Bruce had to constantly remind himself that he was currently accompanying a being that had never left the Underworld and a woman without active memory of anything; or at least so they supposed.

When Bruce opened the doors to the Manor and let them in, he spotted Alfred in the inner welcoming hall vacuuming, blasting some old jazz music from the speakers of the house. His loyal butler, upon seeing them, hastily turned the music off with a remote in his pocket and ran to them, a small smile creeping underneath his moustache.

"Princess Diana! What a pleasure it is to have you back!" He said. "And who is our new guest?" He asked, eyeing Haros. He was used to the images of all sorts of creatures by now and nothing could surprise him anymore. Diana just nodded at him after hearing her name.

"Alfred, there's been a complication."

"Hm. Should have guessed from your complete absence from home the last few days."

"Diana has suffered memory loss. Or…something like that. You'll see, she's not really herself. I had no choice but to bring her here."

"Of course. Does she understand?" He asked, giving Diana a good look. She was lost in coldly inspecting the inside of the Manor.

"She doesn't seem like she does. Yet. She understands some things, just not a certain language, we think."

Alfred nodded sadly and brought his hand to his face. "And here I hoped you two were happily reunited and celebrated for some days straight. But alas, it was just an old man's wishful thinking."

"To the point, Alfred. You will take care of her while I'm away."

"Naturally. I'll find a way to do it. Now, who's our second guest?"

"Oh." Bruce turned to Haros and introduced them. "Haros, Alfred. Alfred, Haros."

Alfred stretched his hand and Haros hesitantly shook hands with the man. "Alfred."

"Haros does not speak English." Bruce said.

"Isn't that just wonderful? Two guests that I can't properly communicate with. I wonder what other jolly surprises you have for me today."

Bruce ignored his remarks. "Haros was Hades' assistant but helped Diana escape safely and is here for her. It's not human, it doesn't need any food or drink or sleep. You can do whatever you want with it, befriend it, ignore it, whatever suits you better. Haros just wants to help Diana from what I get."

Alfred sighed. "Let's find her a room now. Should I have her by your master bedroom, sir?"

"…Wherever you like, Alfred."

"By the master bedroom it is. I shall place Haros by my quarters." Alfred looked at Diana and Haros and signalled them to follow him. Bruce took Diana by the elbow and led her further inside.

"This is very nice, Bruce Wayne." Haros said. "It's even better that what Princess Diana had showed me before."

"Thank you. Alfred will have you stay by his room in case you need anything. Diana's room will be just a little further along the hallway."

"You don't need to go to such lengths, I don't require a room. I can just stay around the rest of the house."

"You're our guest. Sparing you a room is common practise for guests, Alfred will insist. Don't use it if you don't want to."

Haros bowed lightly. "Thank you."

A couple of hours later, and after Bruce was sure that Diana had understood where she was supposed to stay and where the rest of the 'necessary' places were, Alfred could still not stay calm. He knocked on Diana's door and let himself inside.

The sight of her just sitting idly on the bed doing nothing and maybe also thinking of nothing made his chest feel tight. She gave him an empty look and he sighed. Princess Diana was…a diamond; precious and bright, vibrant and strong. Who knew what had happened to make her like this?

"Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth," he told himself, "you're at an age where strokes and heart attacks come and go. Pull yourself together and don't get carried away by things so easily, you old fool."

He approached the bed, putting some freshly-ironed pajama sets and robes on it. He sat by her side and like Bruce had told him, placed his hand over his chest. "Alfred." Then pointed to her. "Princess Diana."

Diana nodded. "Alfred."

"That's right." He observed her better now that he was closer. Her eyes were clear but she was overall quite worn out. Her armour didn't cover much of her skin and he could see some disturbing black marks on her hands and her legs, but if it was something to worry about, Bruce would have most definitely told him so. Her hair had also grown too long for it to be comfortable or at least presentable. "Very well, then, Princess. We'll start your rehabilitation process with a very much needed haircut. Follow me."

He stood up and gently tugged at her wrist. She obediently placed her feet on the floor and followed him outside, to a bathroom at the far end of the corridor.

The Waynes were hardly ever expected to visit a simple barber shop in town. The finest barbers and hairdressers were summoned at home, where the late Bryan Wayne, a few generations earlier, had installed a small room specifically designed for that. Alfred was also the one that usually cut Bruce's hair when he could afford himself the luxury of having a decent haircut done at this small 'salon' in his own house.

He went over to the chair and stroked its leather, saying "Chair" to Diana and signalling her to sit. Diana sat, although somewhat reluctantly and Alfred, humming to himself, covered her shoulders with a towel and brought two shampoos at her, opening the lids and letting her smell them. "Coconut" and "Rose", he said, repeating it three times. Diana inhaled the smells curiously before deciding on "Roz."

"I was sure you'd pick this one, Princess." Alfred said, moving to the back of the sink and gently helping her rest her head and taking her tiara off. He washed her hair thoroughly, having to use an amazing amount of shampoo to cover it all. After they were done, he moved her to the other chair and showed her a hair brush with an ivory handle. "Brush."

Diana simply observed the object. Alfred's gentle caress on her head helped her relax as he started to slowly comb her wet mane. "This was Mrs Martha's brush. It hasn't been used in so long, yet it remains as perfect as it used to be. Now, stay still, Princess. I know it hurts, but your hair is unbelievably long now, so bear with me."

A good while later, the hair was combed. Alfred was worried at how still Diana had sat. She had followed his every instruction almost _too_ well and he didn't know how to feel about that but for now it was better, since the task at hand was delicate.

He got his silver scissors out of their box and wondered what to do. He had never cut a woman's hair before. "Oh, well." He shrugged. "She won't be going anywhere important any time too soon." He gathered the hair in a ponytail-like manner and decisively cut everything under his fingers with a few fast snips. "Ah, exhilarating."

He brought out the brush again to comb the hair and braid it so that it wouldn't get too unruly. "You know, I hoped that one day this brush, Martha's brush, would permanently be on your dresser in the master bedroom. I don't know if you've ever been inside that room; it's gorgeous. I wish Master Bruce had been faster with bringing you here. I don't know how you were raised in Themyscira, but I believe you liked the Manor very well. Every time you used to come over, we'd take strolls in the garden and then you'd discuss some League thing or other with Bruce and then we'd take tea and then you'd leave because you're of course a very busy superheroine. But I liked those visits, Master Bruce did too. I hope we can get you back soon, Princess. Or we'll make you from scratch. I'll help you as much as I can, that, I promise. Because I promised to _them,_ Diana, too, in a way. I promised to take care of him and I don't think I can do it without your help." He giggled, turning the chair to face the mirror. "You still look stunning, as always." He handed her her tiara back.

The small lift of her mouth's corners was all the pay he wanted.

When they came out, Haros was waiting right outside the door. Alfred bowed lightly at it and Haros bowed back as a form of greeting. Diana stretched her hand out and Haros touched it; Diana reported the visions of her haircut.

Haros stroked Diana's braid, observing the freshly cut hair tips. Alfred cleared his throat, catching the attention of both of them and pointed to the stairs. "It's time for dinner. I bet the Princess is hungry." Haros and Diana followed him silently and he had them seat at the dining hall.

Bruce ascended from the Bat Cave, having received Alfred's call for dinner, and joined them, taking his seat by the head of the table.

"Diana, you got a haircut I see." He said in Greek, slightly smiling.

"She showed me." Haros said.

"It's good that she tries to communicate."

"I will need to learn some of your language, I figured. Some words so that I can communicate with Alfred too."

"We'll see how that can be sorted out."

Alfred came out pushing his silver trolley loaded with dishes and trays filled with all sorts of foods. "This one for you…" He mumbled, leaving a dish in front of Bruce, "And this one for the Princess." He left another plate in front of Diana.

"Princess." Haros repeated the English word. "I've heard all of you say this word. Is it something you call-"

"Yes." Bruce replied, picking his fork up. "It means 'princess'."

Haros nodded and helped Diana with the fork and the knife, as she observed Bruce and started eating. Alfred retrieved his own dish and joined them, unfolding a napkin on his lap.

"Master Bruce." He said, fiddling with a piece of perfectly roasted pork on his plate. "What happened to the Princess? Honestly?"

"She…" Bruce swallowed. "She unleashed a massive power to defeat Hades. That power came from the souls of the Underworld but…well, from what I get and from what Haros narrated, in order to use the souls, she connected with them. But every time, her hold on her own soul weakened and she struggled a lot to maintain her integrity but that final blow was the last straw. She won but she lost the hold on her soul. That's the incomprehensible state she's in now."

Alfred nodded. "I figured it was something peculiar. This doesn't look like amnesia or dementia. She knows how to interact with things and she hasn't become dumb. But she is not she anymore. She's…weirdly obedient and inactive, it's not her personality."

"Yes, I believe that's the content of one's soul, is it not?"

Alfred took a look at Diana across the table, eating everything silently. "But her soul…is it gone forever?"

"No, that would mean she's dead. But she's very much alive."

"I see."

Diana finished eating and turned to look at them. "You liked the food, I take?" Bruce asked, seeing how her plate was empty. Diana timidly smiled at him, probably not understanding a word he was saying. But that didn't stop Bruce's heart pace from speeding up.

Alfred gathered up the dishes and took them to the kitchen. Bruce stood up and stretched his hand out for Diana. She took it, knowing this was how she was going around most of the times now, and he led her and Haros to the sitting room. He had her sit on one of the velvet sofas as he made his way to the fireplace, putting some wooden logs inside and lighting it up. "I remember how you really liked this fireplace, Diana." He said, joining them on the couch. "How do you find it now?"

Diana gave him a strange look and left her seat, moving in front of the fireplace and sitting on the fur carpet, hugging her knees. He took his phone out and snapped a picture of the moment; he wanted to send it to Dick Grayson, who had without a single complaint taken up his shifts for the last few days.

This scene reminded him of last Christmas; Diana had decided to join them at the Manor and on Christmas night, they had sat there for several hours as she had graced them with stories of when she first came to the 'man's world' and other funny scenes from her life as a superheroine. Dick was an avid fan of those stories; his favorite one always being when they had become small children to defeat Mordred. Bruce really disliked the story, feeling it was too embarrassing for him, but Diana always told it in such a heart-warming way, that even he managed to see the funny side to it in the end.

He sighed; Christmas would soon come too. Would she ever tell them stories like that again?

"There." Alfred said, coming to them and handing Bruce a glass of whiskey. "You look like you need it."

Bruce thanked him with a nod and half-smiled when he saw that Alfred had also poured himself a generous amount of red wine.

"Ask it if it wants anything." Alfred said.

"It can't eat or drink."

"Does it need anything else though? A blanket? A fresh set of clothes?"

Bruce turned to Haros. "Alfred is asking if you need anything, like clothes or a blanket."

"No, I don't require anything."

"Haros, how is your memory?"

"As good as ever. I remember everything I have ever witnessed. My memory is not bound by the repetitiveness the human memory needs."

"Perfect. So if I tell you some words now, in English, will you remember them right away?"

"Yes."

As Bruce started teaching Haros a few basic words, Diana stood up and moved to the window. She pushed the curtains slightly aside and stared outside.

"Alfred, roz." She said, turning to see the butler.

Alfred, startled, placed his wine on the low table and walked up to her. "Yes, Princess?"

She moved the curtain further and looked outside again. "Roz?"

Alfred smiled at her. "Yes, you're right. The roses."

"Alfred?" Bruce asked, frowning.

"She remembered. I had her pick a shampoo scent earlier, she chose the rose one. And now…she recognized the scent from the rose bushes in the garden. But…Hm."

"But?"

"It's not just that, Master Bruce." He gave him a decisive look. "She is still in there, and we'll bring her out _no matter what_."

Bruce grinned at his butler and his determination, raising his glass at him. "I'll drink to that."

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Bruce woke Diana up late the next day; he needed to run some Wayne Enterprises errands and neither Alfred nor Haros wanted to pull her off her slumber. She never woke up cranky though, and she didn't that day as well. She might have looked as uninterested as ever, but she obeyed everything like she had done before. The table where she took her breakfast was decorated with a vase full of roses, which she smelled intensely. Bruce took one out and gave it to her, asking Haros to get her ready to leave.

Soon, they were back inside the Bat Jet; he on the steering wheel, Diana on the co-pilot seat, rose on her lap, and Haros at the back, learning more words. Time flew by and before they knew it, they passed through Themyscira's invisible border.

Bruce led them outside and watched to see whether Diana would remember the way to the city or not. She simply stepped a bit further, stroking the bark of a tree with her free hand and then looking at him questioningly. Haros nudged her and they started following Bruce past the small forest that surrounded the residential area.

They were greeted by some bewildered Amazons that bowed when they saw Diana but never ceased to eye them weirdly. The last time they had seen their Princess, she had just come out of the Underworld bruised and almost black from the magic she had used and, of course, unconscious.

The news of her coming reached Hippolyta before they could reach her and so she came running out of the Palace, her lush white tunic flowing behind her.

"Diana! Child!" She cried, coming to a halt in front of her daughter, her eyes sparkling with some tears. She cupped Diana's face and smiled. "Welcome home again." But Hippolyta's smile faded quickly when Diana said no word and showed no emotion; she simply cupped Hippolyta's face in return. Hippolyta turned to Bruce, knowing she didn't have to speak the question.

"She dissociated from her soul to save us all." Bruce said simply.

"And what does this mean?" She said through her teeth.

"Princess Diana has lost what made her _her_." Haros said, approaching. "She can perform some daily rituals and can take basic care of herself. I think she is…a default human now."

"Haros has worded it quite right. But we believe we can help her. That's why we want her to visit familiar places."

Hippolyta nodded bitterly. "That was my daughter. Foolish; always putting others over herself… But where would we be without her now?" She sighed. "We must help her get back. We owe her this much."

Bruce and Haros both nodded. "Introduce yourself to her."

"Diana, I am Hippolyta, your mother."

"Like this." Bruce approached, pointing to Diana and then to the Queen. "Diana. Hippolyta."

"Hippolyta." Diana repeated.

Hippolyta smiled a bit. "That's right. Come, we'll walk."

She took Diana's hand and started walking around the city, pointing out buildings and things for Diana to see. She observed everything but rarely showed anything on her face.

"How long are you planning on staying?" Hippolyta turned her head around and asked.

"A few hours. We have a big itinerary planned for her."

"Then get yourself comfortable around here. I'll take her on a bigger tour of the island."

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Bruce and Haros enjoyed some cold but generous Amazonian hospitality while Hippolyta and Diana were gone. True, the Amazons eyed them suspiciously even after everything and barely spoke any words to them, but their offerings were nothing short of luxurious. Bruce ate a lot and drank as well, but carefully. Now wasn't the time to be getting drunk or tipsy. Haros observed the Amazons closely and made some clever remarks; Bruce was actually impressed at how well it connected the elements of Diana's –former- character to the environment she was brought up in.

As the midday sun gave way to a sweeter, afternoon light as dusk drew closer, the Queen and the Princess approached from the east. Diana's embrace was filled with flowers and branches, some with fruit and buds on them, which she handed to Haros the moment they all met again. Hippolyta tried to look content but one could easily see how bitter she was deep down; it was her own daughter after all.

"How was your walk?" Bruce asked, approaching them.

"Filled with too much of my own voice." Hippolyta said. "She seems to be interested in the vegetation at least. And she seems like she recognizes the roses."

"Yes, that is true, she has seen a few back at the Manor where she's staying."

The Queen nodded. "She's staying with _you,_ then, I suppose?"

"It was the best solution. There's a constant caretaker for her there, and everything she could ask for."

Hippolyta sighed. "I doubt it. But it has to do for now. If you're trying to awaken her memories again, you can't expect it to only concern her more recent ones. You have to work on her whole life. If you can't bring her here more often –I know you'll reject any proposition I make to keep her here- at least let me give you some things she used to like while she grew up. This will maybe, step by step, help her reminisce."

Bruce frowned but nodded, trying to concentrate on Hippolyta's words. For some reason, he was feeling weirdly flushed; and then it hit him. Though the wine he had drunk was not enough to get him by his regular standards, the nights he had slept too little were maybe one too many and it was starting to act up now. And so the sight of Diana moving further away escaped his attention at that moment.

"Yes, that would…probably help." He said, maintaining his composure. "We will use everything you give us and please, rest assured, she is being very well taken care of."

"Princess…" Haros muttered, gliding above the ground to reach Diana when it noticed she had begun to stray away from then.

Haros' call made them both turn that way and see Diana leaving with long strides. "Diana!" Bruce called, starting to run to get her, but his call fell on deaf ears. In a moment of epiphany of sorts, Diana kicked the ground and levitated, as if she knew, or remembered, that she could fly. And then flew indeed straight, faster than any of them could run.

"Where is she going!?" Bruce cried out.

Hippolyta bit her lip. "I think I know. Bring us two horses!" She ordered an Amazon nearby. "She is my daughter. It's still her." She mumbled.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Hippolyta brought her horse to halt before they reached a golden-sand-covered shore. The setting sun made the tiny waves on the surface sparkle, as if the sea was paved with crystals and just a little bit further, Bruce saw Diana's head emerge. Her shoes and her uniform were sloppily left outside.

"Why?" Bruce wondered, frowning.

Hippolyta smiled wryly. "There's a Greek saying, that the soul leaves first, and the habits leave second."

"Something like 'old habits die hard'?"

"Or not at all. Diana's favorite activity was to come swim here before nightfall. It was great exercise for her and she always loved the water."

"Yes, that is true." Haros agreed, sitting behind Hippolyta. "She always liked to sit by Acheron when she was in…" Its voice trailed off.

"Do not be ashamed to speak of that time, Haros." Hippolyta said. "It wasn't your fault she ended up there and the fact that we have her here now is because you helped from what I learned."

"I just did what I had to…for her."

"So humble. Of course Hades would make you like this; he doesn't have any ego to spare, he keeps it all for himself." Hippolyta noticed how Bruce had pinned his eyes on Diana, swimming fairly deep by now, and clenching at his horse's bridle, and turned to him. "You may go find her if you wish. You did say you have the rest of her day planned, did you not?"

Bruce sighed and climbed off, tying the horse on a tree bark. They did have to leave, Hippolyta was right. She handed him her cape and he walked on the sandy shore until he reached her spot.

"Diana." He called, signaling. "Come on out."

Diana looked at him and Bruce felt as if she was staring right at the pits of his soul, no matter how far she was. She dived and swam gracefully underwater, coming a bit closer to the shore, but in no way coming out. She opened her eyes and looked at him again. Bruce felt as if she was trying to tell him something that was pretty obvious to her, but not to him.

"Come, Princess. Let's go." He said again.

"Bruce." She said and he felt as if he skipped a beat; it was the first time she ever called his name ever since she woke up after that day.

And then he thought he finally knew what she wanted; maybe it was the wine helping him, but he was certain he was right. He turned towards Hippolyta and she nodded, lightly kicking the sides of her horse and turning around to leave.

"He really does care for her, doesn't he?" Hippolyta asked Haros.

"I would say so. And the Princess feels, or felt, quite strongly for him as well. It really helped her stay focused while trying to come out of the Underworld."

Hippolyta took a deep breath, fighting that ridiculous tear at the edge of her eyes. "I just want her to be happy. That's all a mother can ever wish for." She kicked the horse harder this time, making it run faster through the trees.

Bruce undid his suit, not knowing if it was the right decision, but it was seemingly, his only option for now. Diana dived again, going deeper and Bruce dived after her, the cool water freezing his burning cheeks.

When he resurfaced, Diana was just a few meters away, staring at him, her wonderful eyes wide.

"What do you want from me, Diana?" He asked, almost whispering. "Just tell me. I'll do anything." Diana just kept staring at him.

He swam just a bit closer, hesitating. What was he even trying to achieve? He stretched his hand on the surface. Diana easily placed her hand in his and got even closer to him, bringing her other hand on his torso. Bruce only now realized how fast his heart was actually beating.

Her smooth touch ran over his chest and his collarbones and his shoulders, but it felt…impatient, or curious; as if Diana was trying to explore the human body in every way possible. Bruce grabbed her wrist with his other hand and made her look at him again. He gave her a sly grin.

"You might want to stop that, Princess. You're making it very hard for me, in more ways than you may know now."

Diana's look was unreadable. Her look jumped swiftly from his eyes, to his mouth, to his hair, to everything and she smiled at him. But tears started streaming down her face, running right past the crease of her smile.

"Diana!" He said, quickly closing the distance between them by hugging her tightly, pressing her head on his shoulder, as she cradled her hands close to her chest and kept crying, tiny silent sobs making Bruce caress her hair. The water ran over his shoulder and washed the sides of her face but her tears seemed to have no end.

"I'm so sorry." He said, tightening his embrace, leaning his head on hers. Fighting a few tears of his own was pointless now. "I'm sorry, it's all my fault. Please believe me. I shouldn't have left you alone. I should have never left you from the beginning. I'm so sorry. I'm such a fool… I hate seeing you cry. I hate making you sad. What can I do? If you'd only help me just this once again…"

When Diana sensed his own sobs, she raised her head and drew slightly back, cupping his face, like Hippolyta had done with hers. Her eyes were still red, but she wasn't crying anymore; instead, she was trying to smile. She brought some water with the palm of her hands to his face, as if to clean it from his tears and wiped the corner of his eyes.

"Alright, Diana. I get it." He cupped her face in return and made their foreheads touch. "Thank you."

When he lifted his eyes to her again, the smile was barely there again and her usual unreadable look had returned. "Let's get back. You have to eat something."

He grabbed her hand and started swimming to the shore. They got out slowly and before anything, he handed her the cape to dry and cover herself. Diana took it and in no haste, wiped herself clean. Bruce caught glimpses of her as he got dressed, the light of the sun almost setting, highlighting the curves of her body in all the right places; no creature could have been described as a Goddess more accurately than her.

Needing to calm himself down, he moved a bit further, knowing she would follow once she was back into her uniform. And indeed, as he untied the horse, she approached and before long they were back in the city.

Hippolyta had them both have a proper bath and after having handed Haros all the necessary mementos of Diana's life on Themyscira, bid them adieu. Bruce had of course said nothing, and she had remained silent as well, but she knew a crying face when she saw one; Diana's cheeks were always a bit swollen at the top when she cried. And that should have normally made her angry; no one should make her daughter cry. But at least that meant there was still some emotion in Diana, something that had awakened maybe. And perhaps it was even good for her; crying was cathartic at times. She only hoped there was…hope for her.

 ***A/N: Thank you for waiting so far, readers. I have literally no free time this semester, I'm sacrificing sleep hours to right even the tiniest of paragraphs. Anyhow, I hope you like the process of getting Diana finally back. Tell me how you found it and thanks for reading so far!***


	17. 17 - Took Long Enough

***A/N: Welcome again and thanks for reading and supporting this fic. I'm so glad that you liked the last chapter, I hope I can deliver with this one as well. Happy reading!***

 **CHAPTER EIGHTEEN – TOOK LONG ENOUGH**

Bruce returned to the Manor after a hectic morning running some 'ordinary life' errands; there was only so many days he could go on without showing up at the Enterprise at all. Though he, as always, was perfect in acting like the regular Bruce Wayne, his mind was completely occupied by worrying over what Diana was doing or what if she did something and he missed it. He scolded himself for acting like a stupid dad; worrying if he'd miss his baby's first steps or words.

Upon returning, he was welcomed by Alfred and found Diana seated by Clark on the sofa in front of the fireplace. He was shuffling through a photo album and Diana looked at the pictures emotionlessly.

"How was it?" Bruce asked, relaxing the knot of his grey tie and sitting on an armchair. Diana gave him a dull side glance and turned her look on the photos again.

Clark grinned at him. "It was alright. We walked through the whole Watchtower. She didn't seem too lost, just…uninterested. Much like she looks now."

"What's that?"

"This is Flash's own League album. You won't believe the photos he has. He gave it to us for her thinking maybe something would ring a bell."

Bruce nodded. "Has anything?"

"I can't tell. She looks pretty bored, though she is in plenty of these pictures."

"Who did you see up there?"

"Flash, obviously, J'onn, Captain Atom, Shayera. They were all friendly with her, she was too. It's something."

"But was she…acting? On her own?"

"Not much. She was mainly following me. Maybe she will start after a few more visits."

Bruce nodded. "Tomorrow, then?"

"Yes, I'll come take her tomorrow again. Same time. Now, I guess this is my cue to get going."

"Stay, it's alright."

Clark half-smiled. "I really should leave, it's almost afternoon and I have my own errands to run as well. I'll see you tomorrow."

"See you."

Clark got up, ruffled Diana's hair a bit and left. Bruce took his seat by Diana on the couch. She handed him the album and got up, making her way towards the stairs.

"Yes, it's time for her daily bath." Alfred said, joining him.

"Should y-"

"No, she is alright by herself and Haros is there for everything she may need. I don't want to invade her privacy this much."

"Fair enough."

"Haros actually spoke English with me. Thank you for teaching him."

"It's a fast learner."

"Yes, I can tell. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to prepare some afternoon fruit snacks."

Bruce nodded and Alfred left. He took the album into his hands and turned to the first page; a candid shot of them the day the League was established. He wasn't there, but the rest of them were. Diana looked as beautiful as she did every day ever since. He kept on browsing the album.

Flash turned out to be a very sneaky photographer; he had shots of many different League and mission moments and almost no one at his photos knew they were being captured at that moment. But then again, he was the fastest person alive, taking a quick shot would be as easy as breathing.

Bruce's glance lingered on a photo; for some reason, Flash had taken a photo of the two of them eating at the Watchtower's cafeteria, a few tables away from where the photographer was sitting. Diana was midway through her signature move of putting hair behind her ear, talking as well, and he was staring at his plate, trying to grab something with his fork. He wondered what had caught Flash's fancy; it was just an ordinary dining scene. Diana and he, being one of the League's most prominent figures, ate together many times, talking about a lot of League issues. But then he noticed.

Underneath the table surface, both his and Diana's free hands were placed in such a way, that it looked like Bruce had offered his hand to her, and she was reaching to take it. He huffed. Just how observant was Flash?

Was it that obvious, he wondered sighing. It was mostly Clark and John that occasionally teased him about it but he, as always, denied everything. How pointless. Apparently, everyone knew even before he did. Well, at least, it'd be easier to accept it when Diana recovered. If she ever did.

He noticed Diana, with a towel wrapped around her torso and barefoot, making her way to the table with Haros on her six. Alfred was quick in bringing a towel from the kitchen drawers to wrap her wet hair and keep it from dripping on his neatly cleaned floors.

"Come, Master Bruce." Alfred called. "The fruit salad is ready."

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

It was getting late; they had already eaten their dinner and after some casual recreational activities, it'd soon be time for them to go to sleep. Before retreating to his room, Bruce decided to visit Diana for some…'goodnight' time, bringing the photo album along.

As expected, Diana was simply sitting by the bed, combing her hair. Haros was fluffing her pillows –something that Bruce was one hundred percent certain that Alfred had taught it- and once it saw Bruce, bowed and left, leaving them alone. Diana placed her comb on her bedside table and stared at him.

Bruce made his way to her side, taking a seat a little bit further and opening up the album. "I didn't know Flash was so nosy. He has some _really_ weird photos in here. Just look at this." He turned to the photograph at the cafeteria.

Diana scooted closer to him, their silk night outfits touching, and took a look at the photo. She smiled just a little and raised her hand to him. He took it. "You also have a keen eye. Seems like we can't help it- being drawn to each other. So, you need to get back to the old you as soon as possible. We have a lot of catching up to do, Princess."

Diana yawned and he grinned. "Alright, I'll let you sleep. Get some rest, Clark will come to pick you up again tomorrow." He kissed her forehead and left, making way to the Bat Cave; he might have taken a small break, but the criminals hadn't; he had several things to investigate.

It must have been around five in the morning when he decided to go to sleep as well; he walked silently through the hallways and went to his room almost like a robot on auto-pilot.

Being a nocturnal vigilante signified that Bruce's general senses were heightened, to the level of even the slightest of unexpected sounds being able to wake him up. So when he realized that something was creeping up to his bed, he was quick in jumping up and grabbing the knife he always kept by his bedside table, aiming it at whomever was approaching. He exhaled in relief and lowered the knife when he recognized Diana looking at him with bewilderment, her eyes sparkling even through the darkness of his bedroom.

He left the knife back and laid down once again. "How can I help you, Princess? Having trouble sleeping?"

She looked at him as expressionlessly as ever, before moving to his bed and coming to lie by his side. Bruce laughed. "Well, thanks for asking before coming to my bed! But it's fine… You know I couldn't possibly refuse your company." He made sure she was properly covered by the bed sheets and she turned to look at him.

"Are you feeling lonely? Is the bed not comfortable? Why are you awake at this hour?"

Diana exhaled and simply snatched his hand, clutching it tightly and closing her eyes. Bruce smiled to himself and caressed her hand with his thumb until her grip loosened and her breathing became slower. "Sweet dreams, Diana."

He closed his eyes as well and drifted back to sleep, a tad happier than he was before.

His dream that night was very peculiar; he usually just saw black and white scenes of chasing criminals or getting killed. But this one was different.

He was a little girl. They were living in a small ground-level house. 'He' was trying to get his ragdoll into a homemade dress when he realized that the house, usually filled with noise, was eerily silent. He got up, trying to see what the fuss was about, finding his folks by the window. He got on the small wooden stool-he was too small to reach it without it- and looked outside. Their neighborhood was filled with low houses much like his. Outside, he saw his friend holding his red ball. The boy was around his age, skinny and blond, now looking in horror at the big gun aimed straight to his head. The man holding it, dressed in the way the rest of the terrifying men that had flooded their city were too, was shouting at him. And then the sound of the shooting made some birds fly away. His friend fell to the ground, his skull disfigured, blood spurting everywhere. The last thing he saw, before his mother forcefully removed him from the window, was the red ball rolling into the pool of blood that formed around his friend's soulless body. He felt a scream form in his throat.

Bruce woke up from that nightmare as his fingers were hurting too much; he frowned and opened his eyes. Diana was grasping his hand tightly, trembling, her face pulled into a mask of agony.

"Diana." He called, retracting his hand, sitting up and shaking her by the shoulder. "Wake up!"

Diana started growling and Bruce shouted and shook her a bit harder until she finally gasped and opened her eyes, trying to stabilize her breath. Instinctively, Bruce pulled her into his arms, feeling her deep breaths. He caressed her hair and looked at her as she calmed down.

"It was just a dream, Princess. I was also having a bad dream but now it's over."

Diana lay back again, exhaling and closing her eyes. Bruce noticed a subsiding magical crack on the inside of her palm, on the hand she had held with him and a thought creeped inside his head. Was it really a coincidence that they both had a nightmare at the same time? He had never seen anything out of the ordinary while holding hands with her during the last few days. Maybe during sleep, she lost whatever control there was. But again…what was this? Thought sharing? Is that what she was thinking? It was too…vivid. Too full of sentiment.

He sighed and decided to let it go for the moment. Diana could not answer his questions and there was no way to make sense of it now whatsoever. Maybe it was just a coincidence.

"Come here." He said, lying close and passing his hand over her, drawing her closer to him. Diana presented no resistance as he embraced her. Her hair near his face was more pleasing than annoying; her scent mixed with the fragrance of rose shampoo filled his nostrils and he rejoiced with being able to hold her again no matter how the rest of the situation was.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Bruce drank his bitter coffee as Alfred bustled around the kitchen. He had left Diana to sleep peacefully, but he needed to go to the Watchtower.

Haros followed Alfred around, observing how the appliances worked. Alfred described everything in simple language, but seemed to be getting along well with their new guest.

"Say, Haros," he said in Greek, "Diana has been showing you her thoughts occasionally, yes?"

"Sometimes while I tend to her she touches me and shows something. Most of the time it's what we're doing at the time or something she saw during the day. Idle things."

"Have you ever seen anything…out of the ordinary? Like she is not her? A strange situation, maybe?"

"Not that I can recall. Did anything happen?"

"She came to my room tonight."

"Yes, she has also been coming to my room for the last two nights as well. I believe she might have been feeling lonely."

"Was her sleep alright?"

"I have never watched someone sleep before but I believe it was quite alright. What worries you?"

Bruce narrated the events of the night to both Haros and Alfred. They seemed to be equally baffled.

"Well, for one," Alfred said, "her reaction to her nightmare is rather hopeful. It means that she has more sentiment in her than she lets out. Or maybe she is rediscovering everything, which, again, is something, since if we can't bring her back, we will have to build her anew."

"You say it was very intense." Haros said in basic English for Alfred to understand as well.

"If we were watching the same dream, then yes, almost too intense for a simple dream. Very detailed as well."

"Then there is a chance that it was a memory."

Alfred and Bruce were both taken aback. "Her memory? When has she ever lived something like that as a child?" Alfred asked.

"She hasn't. But somebody once did. And that somebody could easily be dead by now."

"What are you trying to say?" Bruce said.

"That if we are to assume that your dream was also hers, it might not have been a dream, but a memory that Diana could have seen from a soul in the Underworld." Haros turned back to Greek to explain.

"So, essentially Diana's memory of a foreign memory?"

"Those particular memories work differently. They stuck with her. Her problem while handling souls was that bits of them wouldn't leave when she was done. At times, foreign experiences would intrude her. Maybe now that she has dissociated from her own, the foreign ones roam around more freely."

Bruce rubbed his chin. Alfred had already gotten the cue and kept on with his activities without paying attention to the Greek conversation anymore. "But that doesn't explain why I saw it as well. I've touched the magic creases before, nothing had happened."

"I may not know much on the subject, but I do know that magic works in peculiar ways. Maybe it was the crease, maybe her own magic, maybe your connection. I can't tell."

He sighed. "I'll keep everything in mind. As long as it doesn't seem to bother her other activities, maybe we shouldn't get worried just now."

"I agree. Let's not change 'strategy', it'd be best for her as well."

Bruce nodded and got up to leave.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Clark tapped his palms on his knees. The League was bustling with Leaguers going about everything, and they were sitting idly watching them. Diana sometimes looked at the passers-by, sometimes outside, sometimes at him.

Clark sighed. "I don't know what else to show you, Diana. Maybe we should find you something to do but…what?"

Diana smiled at him lightly and turned a bit on her chair. "Let's go grab a bite, then." He said. "It is close to lunchtime."

Just when he was about to get up, the general alarm went off around the Watchtower. A big holographic screen emerged where they were and many Leaguers gathered around. A small video clip was transmitted from Batman's signal before it was cut.

"The Sinestro corps?!" Superman exclaimed. "What do they want?"

"We need to deploy immediately." Red Tornado said.

"Reports from around the area say their number is big." J'onn said, moving to the front of the crowd. "Green Lantern is moving to the scene, requesting reinforcements. Everyone, move out. We're treating this as high-priority."

Clark turned to Diana. "I need to go! You…stay here." He signaled her to sit on the chair and wait. "Please. I'll be back, stay calm here. I'll call someone to come get you."

Worrying about everything, he left as well and soon Diana was left alone at the Watchtower. Even J'onn had left her alone.

She returned to her seat like Clark had instructed. She knew that all the people she had seen had left for a reason and usually, she didn't care why people left. She just continued existing. That was all.

But for the first time in, what for Diana felt, a long while, she was feeling something different. She was normally carefree. Nothing could faze her too much. She knew she had nothing to care for other than her existence. But she wasn't feeling like that anymore; something was telling her to worry.

Instinctively, she ran her hand over the consoles. She had no clear idea what those buttons did, or any motive as to why she was doing it. Like always, she wasn't feeling much. But she pressed a big rectangular button alright.

The holographic screen that showed them the message before, reappeared and replayed the message. Floating figures dressed in yellow were shooting rays at the surrounding building. The hero broadcasting it was running among the falling debris, holding a woman in his arms to get her out of harm's way. Something she couldn't make out interrupted the filming.

She kept staring at the screen for some moments. She didn't understand much of what the people who left were saying, or what people in general said but she recognized the voice in the video; it was _him._ And he was speaking fast and loud; something was urging him. She kept watching the small clip over and over again.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Bruce had transferred as many bystanders as he could to safety; the Sinestros were particularly difficult enemies to handle. Their rings gave them a big advantage against him and his gadgets, and luckily reinforcements had begun to arrive.

He didn't know why the Corps had decided to launch an attack at such a time and in such a place. But that didn't matter at this moment, it had to be put under control and fast. The city center was going to be destroyed; several buildings were already beginning to crumble, the roads were full of debris and a cloud of smoke was covering the ground. Luckily, he and Flash had managed to get everyone away. The rescue crews were also fast in coming and so, to his knowledge, no one was in immediate danger now.

He assessed the situation; Green Lantern was facing Sinestro, Zatanna was fending off three yellow Lanterns with one of her magical shields, Superman had already rendered two unconscious and was going for his third, with Black Canary a little bit further, stalling some other Lanterns. The rest of the Leaguers were also engaged in some sort of battle and he decided to join Black Canary, getting his grappling hook ready.

Just as he was approaching her, a strong magical wave, launched by somewhere he couldn't see, engulfed the area around them. He felt its impact on his body as he and several other Leaguers were shot away; his breath momentarily stopped, his neck was stretched back, his chest hurt as if his ribs were all breaking little by little. He embraced himself to hit either on a building or the ground.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Diana was staring at the black sky through the Watchtower's window panels. Some stars were twinkling here and there and the Earth looked so peaceful from this distance; just a white and blue sphere floating somewhere in the endless universe's sea.

She wasn't thinking of anything special, but her chest began to ache, like her heart was tied in a knot. She was hurting, and she knew that something was terribly off when the rifts on her skin, that had been more like fossils engraved on a stone lately, dormant, started to tingle. She felt dizzy as images started to flash before her eyes making her relive those memories, like last night; the ground was very cold when he hit it after the thief's shot, and little Bruce looked so lost when he ran closer. And then something changed, like a piece of her mind had fallen back into its place, and she relived something different; a sense of imminent danger, followed by a kiss that she had longed to have and her heart started aching even more. She….remembered something, she felt something particular.

With her hands trembling and her breath becoming erratic as the creases on her hands started shining black, she ran to the Z-tube. As she stood under the teleportation rays, she closed her eyes and focused on Bruce; through her own memory, through Thomas', through her blackening skin, she needed to find him. And when she reopened her eyes, standing under the Metropolis Z-tube, she could _feel_ him. Losing no time, she followed her senses and flew.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Bruce was hardly breathing under all the rubble and he found it difficult to move even his little finger. He felt something wrap around his torso as he was pulled from under the debris and he coughed. Once he was lifted up, through his blurry eyesight, he saw the yellow ray of one of the Sinestro rings pull him up, the same thing that was happening to several other Leaguers from what he could make out. The battle was still going on but he couldn't make out much.

He didn't know what was going on exactly, but something, fast like a missile landed on the yellow Lantern that was holding him and the ray that was keeping him up vanished. He started free falling and before he could ready his grappling hook, something grabbed him from his cloak and carried him to a pavement. To his complete and utter surprise, he saw Diana step in front of him and turn just in time to reflect a yellow ray coming their way.

She turned back to him and caressed his cheek; he tried to stroke her hand but a mix of his pain and his shock to see her there rendered him unable to move. "How-" He mumbled. Why was she here? Was she well? He started feeling afraid for her and in the state he was, he wasn't going to be of much help should anything happen.

"Oh, if it isn't Wonder Woman." Sinestro said approaching and without saying anything more, launched another ray. Diana turned around once again and crossing her brassards, withstood the hit perfectly, dispelling it as she pushed her hands apart.

"You will stop this." She said in Greek and lunged to him. Sinestro created a shield from his ring, but Diana with a brunt that Bruce hadn't seen in a long time, broke it and grabbed him by the neck. Before he could react, Bruce saw how the magical creases on her skin shone and Sinestro's throat was covered in something like black magic and his limbs fell motionless as if he was paralyzed. Diana raised him up and everyone slowly turned to this small ongoing battle.

Diana's eyes turned black and Sinestro gasped for air. A small black line grew like a vine from his throat and crawled to Sinestro's fingers, as his ring slid off and fell to the ground. Diana stomped on it.

Seeing that, most of the yellow Lanterns that hadn't been seized by any Leaguers, abandoned their battles and flew away quickly. No Leaguer bothered chasing them, however; they all slowly approached Diana. She let Sinestro fall on the ground and her black magic returned inside the crease of her right hand.

"Diana?" Superman said.

She turned to him and nodded, before falling to the ground herself.

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Bruce wondered how many more times in his life he'd have to wait on an uncomfortable chair by Diana's hospital bed-side. It was starting to get dull.

The injuries he had suffered were not that serious from what J'onn explained. It was the magical shock that had made them all feel worse. His ribcage was wrapped in bandages and he would have to take some painkillers for some days, but that was no news for Bruce.

Diana was also stable. J'onn speculated she did something with the remnants of her soul magic and that had put her out for now. She just needed some time. At least they hoped so. Bruce had notified Haros and Alfred that they were both well and they would return home as soon as they could. Haros wanted to come but they convinced it in the end, that there was no particular point in doing that.

It was some time after midnight when Diana shuffled on her bed and opened her eyes; Bruce was already by her side, waiting to see her reaction. She looked at him much like she had done every day, with no particular emotion, but then she smiled widely, laughing a bit and stretching her arms towards him. Bruce laughed and hugged her strongly, not letting her go. She pulled him closer and they stayed like that for some time, laughing and embracing, until Diana let go and signaled him to sit on her bed.

"Do you remember?" He finally asked her, taking her hand in his.

"I remember you." She said in English now.

He smirked. "I knew you weren't completely gone. I knew it. And what about me do you remember?"

Diana smiled at him. "That I love you."

Bruce stared at her, letting the weight of her words sink in and looked at their hands. "I…"

Diana put him out of this uncomfortable silence. "And the more I look at you, the more things I remember. Oh, there's so much."

"When did you start remembering? How did you know where to find me before?!"

Diana rubbed her temple and exhaled. "I have been in a haze lately, haven't I?"

Bruce nodded. "You were-"

"In the Underworld. I am Diana, Wonder Woman, Princess of the Amazons. And of the Underworld."

"I suppose you technically are."

Diana looked at him as if he was going to disappear any moment now; her gaze was impatient. She had missed him.

"So, how did you do it? And _what_ did you do to Sinestro?"

Diana hesitated for a second. "There is so many things that I want to tell you, and where to begin?" She smiled. "I suppose I was feeling nothing and then I…I felt like you were in danger. I am…connected to…" She took a deep breath and some tears started falling from her eyes.

"Hey, hey, don't be sad now." He tried wiping them off with the back of his fingers. "You are here, you are back, you are remembering. It is what you wanted and I…I couldn't be happier that you're finally _here_."

"Bruce, I…It was your father that woke me up."

Bruce swallowed and looked at her in disbelief. "My…my father?"

Diana nodded sadly. "It was the first soul I managed to…use. You were there when I fought with Hades, do you remember? Those were souls. And it was pretty damn hard controlling them. But it was your father's soul that I connected with first. It…helped me, in a way. Like my right hand man."

"I…I don't know what to think about this."

"It's not easy to understand. But when I connected with a soul, and I had to do it with myriads, I, let's say, saw their memories. And that's how I got so connected with Thomas. I saw you."

"You saw the-"

"Yes, I did. But I not only see, I _feel_ what they felt. It's a true connection and it took such a toll on me. It still does."

"What do you mean, Diana?"

"I am sure that Haros has already told you many things but some parts of some souls have stayed with me apparently. Even when I was dissociated from my own soul all this time, they were still present. I relived one of those last night, it came as a nightmare but it was hardly only a dream."

"I think I saw the same dream."

"It is possible. And this is how I found you today. 'Ladies do not start fights, but they can finish them', right?" She grinned.

"The Aristocats movie, we watched last November. You already remember so many things."

"See? You and I have a very strong connection, Bruce. Not only is my soul, for many reasons, attached to yours, now there's a part of your father's soul here. And when it felt that you were in danger, it activated in a way and brought forth the parts of my soul, my memories, that were tied with you as well. That was when I started remembering a little bit. Just enough to let me come find you. And…what I did to Sinestro is something like what I did to Iris, to have her bring my message to you. I used those tiny soul bits that are left here, in me, and produced some soul magic. Much smaller, of course, than what I did with Hades, but enough to get Sinestro unconscious."

Bruce looked at her wide-eyed. "I guess I have to thank my father, then."

"Wait, I have something I need to tell you before we can finish this whole conversation. There are many things about the Underworld that I don't want to say; it's better if no one knows, humanity doesn't need this. But I want you to know that…your parents loved you very much. And never, not even in their last moments, did they ever, _ever,_ blamed you for what happened. They only…worried for you. And that is partly why they're not at the best…rest they can be. They both just want you to be happy. Nothing else." Diana knew that what she said wouldn't make Bruce happy, though he needed to hear it, but she didn't expect him to start crying. "I'm sorry…"

Bruce shook his head sideways and came closer, bringing their foreheads to touch. "Thank you." He whispered.

It was Diana's turn to wipe some of his tears away, running a finger over the side of his lips up to his cheek. Bruce cupped her face with his hands. "Thank you." He said again and closed the distance between them by planting a soft kiss on Diana's lips. He lingered close and Diana kissed him back, snaking her hands around his neck.

And it felt so right. Her lips were smooth and her tongue playfully touched his. She pressed herself on him and he drew himself a tad away, just enough to look into her eyes. He helped her sit on his lap and drew her hair away as he planted some kisses on the side of her neck. Finally, he rested his head on her neck's cradle and she hugged him.

"Took you long enough." Diana said, tugging lightly at the hairs at the back of his neck.

"I'm sorry, I was an idiot." Diana simply exhaled and let her head rest on his. "Diana?"

"Yes?"

"I love you too." He said lowly.

"I know."

Bruce huffed and lifted his head to look at her. "I can't _actually_ believe this is happening."

"Hush." Diana said, pushing her finger on his lips and kissing his forehead. "Let's just go home." She whispered.

OOO-OOO

Bruce didn't care about anything that night. He just couldn't.

Not when Diana was lying naked underneath him, when he was kissing her, touching her every spot, hearing her breaths by his ear. And when they finally couldn't keep going anymore, he still had her in his arms and it was all real.

As their breaths stabilized and none of them could sleep, he spoke. "Last night."

"Yes?"

"You were practically projecting your memories to me, were you not?"

"Well, not willingly, but I guess you could say so. The soul magic activated I think and because you're…you, you could see them."

"Do you think…it could work the other way around? Can I show you something?"

Diana frowned. "I don't know. I can try."

"Please do. I just want to…share this with you."

Diana nodded and closed her eyes, bringing forth a tiny bit of soul magic, just enough for the lines on her hands to start shining. Bruce took her hand and he felt that it had worked; Diana was engulfed in Bruce's memory, much like she had done when he had ventured down in the Underworld, but this time, he showed her the very things he wanted to.

The theatrical show wasn't bad; in fact, little Bruce Wayne was enjoying the play up until the moment the bats flew. He knew his fear was irrational but that didn't stop his childish heart from beating too fast inside his small chest. His parents led him out the emergency exit and he felt he could finally breathe once they were out. But not for long.

The scene she had seen enough times already played itself again; the thief, Thomas' attempt to stop him, Martha's cry. Bruce saw all that while standing frozen in terror before running to his dying father. It was too late. He called them again and again but to no avail. None of them was breathing and he didn't know what to do. He got up trembling but fell, tripping on the gun that had killed them both. He took it in his pale hands and his mind went blank. In disgust, he threw it away; he never wanted to touch anything like that ever again. He bit his lips in an attempt not to cry but no biting could help his despair. He screamed at the top of his lungs until someone came to find him sitting into a puddle of muddy water and blood between the two lifeless bodies.

Diana retracted the magic and turned to look at him. Sure, a lone tear was running but his face looked calm. "Bruce, are…are you okay?"

Bruce shrugged. "When you see a thing every day in your life again and again, you get used to it eventually, Princess. I just…this is the most personal thing I have. And I wanted you to know."

Diana simply tightened her embrace. "Thank you."

 ***Yes, she is back and I'm also finally back from my writing slumber. The next chapter will probably be the last as well. Thank you for reading, hope you liked it! Next up, we "discuss" what happens with Diana from now on, what she can do, what she doesn't want to do and what happens afterwards. I don't know if I'm going to write an 'ever after' scene, still contemplating on that one. If you'd like to see one, say so in the reviews and I'll take it into serious consideration.***


	18. 18 - Loose Ends and Endings

***** **Hello, dear readers, to the final chapter of this fic. I'm thrilled to be marking this 'complete' after such a long time. I loved working on it, no matter how much time it took to finish and I hope you enjoyed reading it as well. Thank you for sticking this far!***

 **CHAPTER EIGHTEEN- LOOSE ENDS AND ENDINGS**

Diana could have described Dick's reaction upon seeing her in the kitchen in the morning almost an attack; he had practically tackled her in his attempt to firmly embrace her. She had returned the hug, smiling cordially to Alfred, standing just a few steps behind and cupping his cheeks with both of his hands.

"Oh the joy this sight brings me!" Alfred said once it was his turn to hug Diana. "It is _really_ you, isn't it, Princess?"

"Fresh out of my slumber."

"Diana saved our asses yesterday." Dick said, taking a seat by her at the table", passing his hand over her shoulders. "What was that, by the way? Looked cool, not to mention it could be useful in plenty of situations…"

"That is a long discussion that we'll have all together at the Watchtower."

"It is safe to assume that you will be generally staying, Princess, yes?" Alfred asked.

"Unnecessary question." Bruce commented, entering the kitchen in his bathrobe.

Alfred smiled underneath his moustache and bowed ever-so-lightly. "Of course, sir."

"This is a relief." Dick said, taking a sloppy bite out of a butter croissant while Bruce sat next to Diana's other side. "I'm telling you, Diana. If he didn't do something about this…thing between you, I would have come to confess in his stead. Honestly."

Diana laughed at the statement and at Bruce's deathly glare towards Dick. Dick shrugged indifferently; it was true and no one could deny it. "I'm just glad to be back." Diana said. "It's been too long."

"You haven't missed too much."

"Where is Haros, though?" Diana asked. "I thought it would be here this morning. I recall it almost always following Alfred around."

"There isn't much point in it following me every time we have breakfast, since it doesn't eat and I don't need any help serving." Alfred said, frying a couple of eggs. "We started something new yesterday; reading. So I instructed it to productively wait for you return in the library. I don't suppose it has exited it but if I may say, it must be heavily worried about you."

Diana got up and fastened the belt of her silk robe. "Alright boys, you go on with your breakfast and I will be back in a bit; can't keep my friend in the waiting." With that, she took her leave.

Dick scooted over to Bruce and nudged him playfully. "So, will I _finally_ be getting a new 'mom' soon?"

Bruce almost choked on his bite. "Please don't start a conversation of this kind ever again."

"Alright, _Pa_. Alfred, you should book an appointment with our tailor. Just in case."

Alfred snorted. "Most definitely, Master Richard."

OOO-OOO

Diana pushed the heavy wooden door and let herself inside. Haros was hovering over the floor by the eastern window, a small book in its bony hands. It shut it and floated over to her fast. "Princess?"

"Hello, my dear friend." Diana answered in Greek. "It's good to finally see you again. And remember."

Haros brought its hand to his chest. "I feel I would laugh if I could. I am truly delighted you managed to come back. I wasn't sure it was possible."

"It was made possible by not giving up on me. And I never did get to thank you for bringing me out of the Underworld in the first place. You really saved me and saved the world."

"I did nothing of that sort; I simply helped you close the door."

Diana cupped its cold face with her hand. "Always modest. But you carried me out not minding the fact that you could disintegrate. And if you hadn't, all of my fighting would have been in vain if Hades had recovered before we closed the Gate. So, really, thank you."

"No need. I am simply a servant…"

Diana laughed, feeling how many things Haros hid within that little sentence of his. "Speaking of which. You are a servant of Hades now."

"Indeed I am. But he does not need to know the full extent of my services to you."

"So you haven't told him about it?"

"No, he didn't ask and I shall not tell him. I realized where my loyalty lies the moment I caught you of that fall. I cannot _not_ answer if he asks, but I shall not instigate such an event on my own."

"Perfect. So, from what you tell me, you're in perfect contact with the rest of your physical manifestations within the Underworld."

"Correct."

"And he doesn't know that you are here."

"No. He has not thought that I had anything to do with it. He simply assumed that you completely overpowered him, which you did, and then left, closing the door behind you once and for all. So, as long as he remains unaware and I do not receive any orders to stop talking to you or act any differently, I believe I can stay with you, if you'll have me."

Diana smiled. "You shouldn't even be mentioning this, of course you'll be staying with me. With us. But tell me, has Hades been asking you things about me?"

"Quite a lot."

"Such as?"

"How you came to use souls, especially the Rested, about the armour, about your mental state."

"And what have you answered?"

"What I knew, in very few words; that you found a soul you knew in a way, connected with it and started using them. I do not know much about what you did with the Rested, so I wasn't of much help there."

"Yes, that was indeed a mystery…" Diana said, smiling coyly.

"A miracle, more like."

"You know, this is quite convenient. You being here, I mean. We finally have an insider to tell us what's going on in the Underworld in case anything happens again. However, we will need to take measures."

"What kind of measures are you thinking of, Princess?"

"We cannot rule out the possibility of Hades finding out about you being here. He is not to be taken lightly."

"Of course not."

"And we cannot wait to see what he orders you to do, should that come to be. Whether it is information he asks of you, or something to do, let's say to sneakily harm me, we need to make sure it doesn't pass in any case."

"Agreed. What do you propose?"

Diana sighed. "I don't like this but it's the only thing I can think of; a self-destruction device. Something you'll be carrying with you and should Hades start realising, before he can give you any orders, you'll press a button and destroy this particular manifestation of you."

"It does not sound irrational. I would also want to end my presence here before I come to harm you in any way."

"I know I sound cruel but-"

"It is necessary, Princess, I understand. Fear not, I will try my best in order not to need to ever use it, but it is best for it to at least exist."

"Thank you for taking this well."

"No need to thank me, again."

"How were your days around the Manor while I was…off?"

"Fruitful. I have accumulated several human skills by observing Alfred and have been learning the English language. Now I have begun reading it as well."

"And? Do you like it here?"

"I suppose so. They are…good people, if I know any. And, most of all, they all care about you very much. I can truly see why this Bruce man meant this much to you. It is also mutual, I hope he has made it clear already."

Diana grinned and approached Haros, taking its hand into hers and projecting a small image of last night into its head. "I see." Haros mumbled. "Good to know."

"Now, I shall leave you to your reading. I need to finish my breakfast and start dealing with my other loose ends."

"You know where to find me when you come back."

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Diana loved it in all its kitsch glory; the tacky balloons, the glittery letters, the smell of catering-service goods and her friends in very good mood. Though it was a League summit meeting, by Flash's orders, it was to make her feel welcome again, by turning it into a welcome-back party as well. J'onn went over the usual agenda not minding the munching and mumbling sounds at all; in fact, he kind of enjoyed this tone of liveliness for a change. It had been too long since a summit had a pleasant hue to it.

"So, can we get to the Wonder Woman part already?" Green Lantern asked, sipping some soda. "It is going to take some time."

"I'll be laconic, don't you worry." Diana said, smiling.

"Shall I let Wonder Woman handle it on her own?" J'onn asked.

"Well, obviously." Diana replied. "Now…First of all, I want to state that I am in perfect health and vigour, so let it be noted that I am ready to fully assume my former League duties."

"Noted."

"What about this new power of yours?" Flash asked, biting off a small piroshky. "Tell us about the Underworld!"

"That I will not do." Diana refused. "I don't want to share many things about the Underworld with anyone, and I ask that you respect this. Now, concerning my 'power', you already know, you witnessed the battle and Hades at least, that I can manipulate the souls of the Underworld like Hades can."

"Yes, we deducted that much." Superman asked. "But what about the Sinestro thing? To my understanding, you didn't have any access to these souls."

"That is true. Well, as you also know, the soul handling takes a heavy toll on me and I had to go overboard in the Underworld in order to be able to fight Hades. This is also the reason why I was not myself when I came back; I lost the connection to my own soul."

"And how did you recover from that? We all tried to work with you, Diana, you didn't seem to react much to anything we tried to show you."

"It was because you didn't show me anything new, I knew all that, my memories were not…gone. But, look, I am not…just myself anymore. Some…soul titbits have stuck with me."

"What? Are there other people in your head too?!" Flash asked.

"Not in that way, no. Some parts, some of their memories let's say. I just have some residue soul energy in me. It is what woke me up eventually. Long story short, I was able to pull these soul fragments and produce some magic to knock Sinestro out. It is miniscule to what I did back in the Underworld, but even just this much can be catastrophic to living beings, especially to magically naïve ones."

"Well, it does sound like the perfect way out of any possible fight to me." Green Lantern said. "Like a God-sent gift. You'll put us out of business!" He laughed.

"Hold your horses. I know it might seem like a really useful weapon, this magic, but I will not use it. I refuse."

"And I condone her decision." Zatanna said. "We all saw how the Hades fight made her. And she even fainted after using the magic for the three seconds it took to put Sinestro out."

"Exactly. I don't want to risk losing myself again. Not to mention that we know too little about this. Yes, I might be able to use this magic, but it is not _good_ magic, it might turn me bad. And can you imagine me aiming this magic towards the wrong side? Because I don't want to imagine that. Sure, a sorcerer or a witch could possibly hold their ground against it, but who can guarantee that I won't target…Superman let's say? Is Raven always going to be there, or Zatanna? It's not a risk I am willing to take."

"Fair point." Green Lantern said.

"But we cannot ignore it." Hawkgirl went on. "It _is_ here and it needs to at least be accounted for. Let it be noted that it exists. Let us have it as our last, last, last resort, if we cannot defeat a villain by any other means."

Diana sighed. "If you all agree on this, we will have this marked as something…higher than code Red. Something to only be summoned in the apocalypse or something…"

"I will write the appropriate protocol if we all agree on this." J'onn said. "And we'll approve it at the next summit." All of them nodded.

"But, and I stress this, act as if this thing doesn't exist." Diana continued. "I am Wonder Woman, with the powers and the abilities you knew to this day."

"You have our word." Green Lantern said.

"And what about the armour you wore?" Zatanna asked. "Where shall it be kept?"

"It is a perfectly fine suit for defence against soul magic, though it needs to be activated. I believe it is tailored to suit this…Underworld lineage only, its incantation is also fairly specific for the Guardian. So, I would like to have it by me."

"It will be kept safely." Bruce said, letting everyone guess he would have it placed in the Bat Cave.

"And to end this matter, Haros can act as our inside informer with the Underworld. We also agreed on it wearing a small self-destruction mechanism in case Hades ever understands anything and has it turn against us in any way."

"Good thing you also got that covered." Zatanna said. "Haros is such a sweetheart, I'm glad it gets to stay. Is it going to stay at…your place?" She asked, looking between her and Bruce.

"Yes." Diana answered confidently. "Later on, I suppose we could discuss him helping out with administrative duties in the Watchtower, but only if we all agree on trusting it. I won't force it on anyone, I'll gladly have it stay by me forever."

"Okay, I think that sums up about everything." Flash said, standing up. "Can we get to the festivities now?"

OOO-OOO-OOO

The days went by very quickly as Diana tried to bring her life back together. She had visited Themyscira, dealt with her villainous loose ends and started to accommodate herself to the Manor. Bruce had insisted and she hadn't resisted; they both agreed they had lost enough time already and so she was steadily moving into the Manor, to Alfred's and Dick's delight as well.

A calm afternoon found her roaming the west wing corridors. Most of the rooms used to host older Wayne generations and now served as guest rooms or for leisure activities; one in particular, as Diana remembered, had a deluxe pool table and a different one had a grand piano placed in its middle, like a mini concert hall. She stroked the lush wallpaper as she walked about; she could really get used to this.

Plenty of family portraits decorated the walls; the Waynes, their spouses and their offspring. From what Diana could tell, the Wayne genes were fairly dominant; black hair, strong jaws and piercing looks were present in every painting she could see. The portrait of Martha and Thomas with Bruce in the middle was hanging in the master bedroom, Diana had been looking at it for the past few nights. One day, she could probably get used to the fact that she had actually _met_ their souls and that a little bit of Thomas had never even left her.

A thought that had been lately creeping in her mind made her feel uneasy again. It was very unpleasant; she didn't want to face it, she didn't want to think about it. Only that she had to; the more she postponed it, the worst it would be for everyone involved.

And as if Fate itself was trying to push the matters, Bruce appeared on the other side of the corridor, making his way towards her. "You're home early." Diana said, accepting his embrace and his kiss.

"The work was done faster than expected, there was no reason for me to stay in the Watchtower when I could be right here instead." He gave her another kiss which Diana reluctantly returned. "What's wrong, Princess?" Bruce asked, easily sensing the change in her demeanour.

"There is something we should discuss." Diana said, summoning her courage. It would be better to just get it out of her system.

Bruce frowned. "Did something happen?"

"No, I've just been thinking and I…I should make some things clear before it…"

"Before what, Diana?"

"Before it gets too late for that. Let's go outside, I feel like this house is suffocating me right now."

Bruce did not say anything, he only accompanied her outside, worrying. They sat on a stone bench by the rose shrubs and Diana inhaled deeply. Bruce took her hand in his.

"Are you alright, Diana?"

"Yes, I am fine."

"Then why do you look like that? What's making you sad? Don't you like the house? We can change whatever it is you don't like."

"No, no, the house is perfect, it's not that."

"Then why do you feel like you're suffocating? Let me help you."

"I don't need help. I just need you to help yourself. Listen…"Bruce simply kissed her knuckles and she sighed again. "I have been thinking lately, after all that's happened, about the future."

Bruce listened closely and she went on. "Let's not hide behind our fingers, it hasn't even been a month and I've already moved in so I think it's safe to say after all we've been through, that we love each other very much and I, at least, see myself spending the rest of my life with you."

"As do I, Princess, you know I'm not good with words if you need to hear them."

"No, I know you very well, Bruce Wayne. I never expected the words from you, I feel what I need to feel. Where I want to take this is, we're moving forward, so-"

"Diana, please don't tell me you want to propose." Bruce said, temporarily losing his colour.

"No, marriage is nothing important to me. Again, I know what I need to know about where my loyalty lies, I mean, that's what got me through the Underworld, a ceremony won't top that. If you want me to marry you, I will gladly do so but again this is not what I want to say."

Bruce didn't expect the conversation to take this turn; he hadn't even proposed but Diana had already accepted to marry him should he ask. But this wasn't her point and Bruce was officially confused; what was going on? "Then what is?"

Diana bit her lip. "I've seen all these beautiful portraits of your family. It really is a long line of Waynes..."

Bruce half-smiled. "Yes, I suppose this is true."

"And how do you feel about continuing this line?"

Bruce swallowed dryly, coming to a different conclusion over the point of this conversation. "Are you pregnant?!"

"No, I'm not pregnant, Bruce."

Bruce wiped his forehead. "That is a…I don't know what it is, actually."

"So, how do you feel about prolonging your family name? Your heritage?" Diana insisted.

"You mean to ask me if I want to have children?"

"Firstly, yes."

He kissed her hand again. "You know, I always thought the Wayne name would sadly end with me. I now have Dick, he's officially a Grayson-Wayne, so at least there's that. But now that you're here, I don't know. I haven't put much thought into it to be frank. But we really should think about it, you're right, because, okay, half of the time we're being…cautious and half of the time we're not."

Diana chuckled. "Our sexual conduct is not my main point."

"Regardless…I don't know. I do see myself with you, if a bigger family is what we want to create, if and when we feel it is safe and we can do it properly, I guess I wouldn't say no. I just want us to be happy I suppose."

"So, the thought of a little Thomas, let's say, running around these gardens, laughing, is not something that displeases you."

Bruce exhaled and stared blankly at the distance. Him…having a baby. The thought alone was weird. But with Diana by his side, there was only very few things he couldn't see himself doing. Maybe he was starting to believe the impossible. "I suppose not."

"Then I'm sorry, Bruce, but I cannot give that future to you." Diana announced with a complete change of tone in her voice.

Bruce turned to look at her. She was staring at him with her gorgeous blue eyes watering. Instinctively, he pulled her into his arms. "What's wrong, Diana?"

Diana suppressed a small sob. "I can't have children."

"What is the exact issue? If that's what's bothering you, I can take you to the best doctors. And if you desperately want children, we can always try alternative conception methods I suppose. Surrogates, whatever, just don't be sad about it, Princess. I don't care."

"There's nothing medically wrong with me, rest assured. But _willingly_ I will not have children. I intend to take measures against it. Permanent ones."

Bruce pulled a bit away to look at her. "Diana, once again, what has gotten into you? You can tell me everything."

"It has been keeping me awake, Bruce. I've been going over it in my head so many times and I know, I am certain, that I don't want my lineage to continue. Even if there is a one in a trillion chance that Hades will get out again and needs a family member to trap, I don't want to condemn any of my children or future offspring to that. I've been there, it's horrible, Bruce. It eats you alive bit by bit. And I want this to end with me. I will not have anyone else go through it as long as I have a say."

Bruce nodded. "I respect your choice, Diana. You have been…through Hell, literally. Please don't make yourself upset about it. I told you, I never planned on having children either way."

"You never planned on having a relationship either, I suppose. But here we are. And I don't want to drag you into this. I don't want to condemn you in a child-less life because of my issues."

"You are not condemning me to anything but a life of bliss as long as you're with me. And this is the most poetic I can get."

Diana shook her head. "Bruce, you can have a future. You have such a long history of Waynes, I don't want to carry the burden of ending it."

"That is my own burden. And I'd gladly carry it, this doesn't change anything. I told you, I never even thought about children."

"You say that _now_. I told you, you never even thought of moving in with me, I am certain of it. What if the years go by perfectly and you realise that you do want children? I cannot give you that. And what then? I will have taken your desire, your dream away. I love you so much that I couldn't bear myself to do that."

"Hush, Diana." Bruce said, bringing her close again. "It pains me to see you like that. And I don't want you to go through this alone. I am never going to leave you and what are we going to do? Break up because you think I might eventually want children one day, when I'm telling you I don't care? To hell with babies, I don't want any of that. Dick can go have five for all I care, I made my choice and my choice is you, whatever that entails."

Diana shook her head. "Please don't take this so lightly. I want you to think of it carefully and come to a conscious decision. It would be better to…end this now before it becomes even harder for both of us. I should have told you about this as soon as I decided it, but couldn't muster the courage…"

"I don't want to hear another word about us ending anything." Bruce said, slightly agitated. "I didn't go through death for you, and you didn't drag yourself out of hell for me, for us to go our separate ways because you don't want children, and I even agree with that. Don't you see? It is stupid. There's nothing we disagree over."

"Please…Just think about it some more. For me."

Bruce sighed. "I just can't get you to understand what I'm saying, can I?"

"Just take some time. Think about your future, weigh it all. Don't think about what's good for me, be a little selfish for once."

"I'm being plenty selfish just by having you here and have you put up with me, probably for a long time to come."

Diana managed to smile a bit. "Take your time, think it through."

Bruce nodded. "Fine, Princess. But have _you_ really thought it through?"

"Yes. I've never felt more certain about a decision in my life. It needs to be done and I've already scheduled my operation."

"Oh… What kind of operation is it going to be?"

"Tubal ligation; as permanent as it gets. Doctor Evans said she's practically going to cut the 'tunnel' through which the ovaries reach the uterus so that they can never be fertilized."

Bruce raised his eyebrows. "…I see. Alright, Princess. Shall I go tell Alfred to get our lunch ready?"

"Yes… And, Bruce, would you mind if I stayed in one of the guest rooms while you think it over? I want your mind to be as clear as possible."

Bruce exhaled slowly. "As you wish, Diana." With that, he got up and headed inside. Hastily, he found Alfred.

"Alfred, I need you to call Mr. Conossian for me. Tell him it's urgent, I require his services immediately."

Alfred frowned, not knowing whether to worry or rejoice over what he heard. "…Right away, sir."

"And prepare lunch, if you please."

"It's already served, call Princess Diana while I find the phone."

"Keep this a secret."

"Obviously, sir."

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

Diana had picked the room with the biggest balcony of the house. Sleep didn't honour her with its presence that night, so she preferred to sit outside. Something about the delightful breeze that accompanied the otherwise warm night kept her calm.

She had stretched her feet over the marble railing. The Wayne Estate stretched for almost as far as she could see; the fountains glistened under the moonlight and the only thing she could hear was the rustling of the leaves and some crickets here and there. And then the sound of the door opening; Bruce had indeed said he'd be away in Enterprise errands for the whole day.

He made his way outside, loosening his tie.

"Everything alright?" Diana asked as he took a seat by her side.

"Most definitely." He leaned back on his chair. "So…"

"So."

He cleared his throat. He had come with only one goal; making his intentions clear. It was hard for him to put what he felt into words; always had been. But he had been going over it in his head for the past day almost non-stop and there was no point in waiting any longer. Was his method of choice extreme? Probably. But nothing about their whole situation was ordinary and desperate situations called for desperate measures. He felt his whole face flush but he needed to do it, so that he may never need to express his feelings so profoundly and verbally ever again. Or maybe just one more time in his life. "Diana, do you know what I thought when I saw you for the first time?"

Diana chuckled. "Actually, I do."

Bruce arched an eyebrow. " _Really_?"

"Well, you did come to the Underworld, and I did get to see your soul so, yes, really. And to think despite all that you felt, you had told me at some point, that there's no room for dating…"

"Then how could you even say all the things you said yesterday?"

"Excuse me?"

"If you did see my soul, if you do know what I felt all this time, how could you even _suggest_ me leaving you? Ever?"

Diana sighed. "Things are different now. We are not the same, _I_ am not the same. That is why I want you to consider everything again."

"I did. And this is what I came to talk to you about now."

Diana sat straight and looked him in the eyes, feeling her heart tensing up. "I hear you."

"In between all the things you said yesterday, you said you would gladly marry me, if I'm not mistaken."

She frowned. "I did…"

"Diana, do you know to what you agree to, when you get married?"

"I suppose yes."

"Well then, let me remind you either way. You vow to hold the other person, in richer and in poorer, in sickness and health, for better and _for worse_. Do you understand that?"

"I do."

"And all that, till death does you apart with the other one."

"Well, it is _marriage_ after all."

"And you still said you would stick with me through sickness and health and all that, right?!" He asked, somewhat raising his voice.

"Yes, Bruce, I said it and I mean it. It's not a question of whether I can pledge to be by your side forever. It's a question of whether you want the life I can offer you, with all its limitations. I love you; making you sad and miserable is the last thing I want to do. I just want you to be the happiest you can be."

Bruce dag into his pocket. "So, you said you are willing to marry me and, _consequently_ , hold me come what may. Allow me then, to tell you that I, too, am willing to hold you come whatever. The. Hell. May. And get that into that thick, Greek head of yours." He took her hand in hers and left something in her palm.

Diana swallowed dryly and retrieved her hand, revealing the exquisite ring that Bruce had placed there. It was gold, made to resemble ivy vines intertwining with each other. A bright ruby decorated its center, framed by two small diamonds and several smaller black ones, running throughout its circumference. Diana stared at it, not even moving.

"So, what do you say, Princess?" Bruce said in a gentle tone. "Did this convince you to never doubt me again?"

Diana felt hot tears streaming down her face and then Bruce's hand trying to brush them away. "I really hope those are happy tears… May I?" He asked, picking up the ring and Diana handed him her slightly-shaking hand. Bruce gently placed it on her ring finger and led her to sit on his lap. He embraced her tightly. "Thank you for _finally_ understanding." He mumbled.

Diana kissed him and let her forehead touch his. "Thank you for everything. And this ring…it's beautiful."

"Specifically designed and crafted for you."

" _What_? For how long were you actually planning to propose?!"

"For a day." Bruce chuckled. "The goldsmith was willing to pull an all-nighter after my request. I just wanted it to match you."

"I don't know how to thank you."

"You did by letting my put this around your finger and…well, since it technically _is_ this discussion we're having, I was thinking that maybe _I_ could instead do something instead of you. I'll need to consult with my urologist but-"

Diana laughed, wiping the last of the tears away. "Way to ruin the moment, Bruce. But no. This has to do with me and only me. I will have the operation and that's it."

Bruce nodded. "Alright. Can I take us inside now? Last night was dreadful. It really is too big of a bed to sleep alone..."

"Go ahead…"

OOO-OOO-OOO-OOO

It took Diana a lot of time to mentally recover after the operation, no matter how certain she was about it.

It took Bruce's last ounce of patience to endure Alfred's constant nagging over their wedding preparations.

It took plenty of visits to the hospital wards after helping keep Earth safe.

It took countless sleepless nights after Dick became a father and the baby woke them all up during the night.

It took unbelievable strength to abide by Alfred's last wish not to cry on his funeral.

It took several years for them to get used to not fighting villains anymore.

But they did it; they held each other till death did them apart. And after it took them both, their souls continued to flow side by side in a luminous, alabaster realm. And occasionally, they would pass by two other souls floating side by side, one looking incredibly like Bruce.

 ***That was it! I didn't want to drag it any longer and just give them the ending they deserve. I hope you enjoyed it, thank you for staying till the end. Please excuse any typos I may have overlooked and if you like, leave me a comment! I might see you all again in another fic ^^ ***


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